2022 Annual Report

As you read this letter I will be closing out my time as President and CEO of Rhode Island Foundation. It has been the honor of my professional life to have served in this position, and I am deeply grateful to each of you for your partnership and commitment to our shared mission.

As I reflect on the last 15 years spent at the Foundation, I can honestly say that each year has been better than the last. I am humbled by the work we’ve done together—through the support of generous donors, dedicated Foundation team members, our boots-on-the-ground community partners, and state leaders we have truly focused on meeting the needs of all Rhode Islanders.

When I took the helm at the Foundation in 2008 our nation was in the midst of an economic crisis, but thanks to the strength of our endowment, and your collective support, we were able to get right to work. Since that time we’ve raised nearly $700 million in funds, and have grown the Foundation’s assets by three and a half times—to $1.3 billion. We’ve also made grant awards totaling approximately $800 million over the last 15 years. And, we’ve raised the profile of the Foundation—cementing its position as the state’s largest funder of nonprofit organizations and as a critical civic leader.

The Annual Report that you are about to read recaps the year that was 2022. During the final full year of my tenure as President and CEO our team stepped up in truly remarkable ways—pulling together to emerge from a global pandemic, raising more than $75 million, and making $84 million in grants to approximately 2,400 nonprofit organizations. We remain ranked among the nation’s 20 largest community foundations by asset size, and in a year when the S&P 5OO was down 18.1 percent, our endowment return was only down 10.6 percent, which ranked in the top quartile of endowments nationwide.

Most importantly, in 2022 we were laser focused on ways to aid Rhode Islanders who have been historically marginalized, and those struggling to make ends meet—by battling inequity, hunger, surging housing prices, educational gaps, behavioral health challenges, economic insecurity, and more through our grantmaking and beyond grantmaking leadership efforts.

I am so proud of our staff team, so grateful for the support of our Board, humbled by the generosity of our donors and the incredible dedication of our nonprofit partners, and I know you will feel the same as you read through this book.

One final note of thanks to our Board of Directors for their diligence in conducting the search for my successor and for their choice of such an inspired candidate in David Cicilline. I am excited to see what is next for the Foundation!

With profound gratitude,

Neil D. Steinberg, President & CEO

Dear Friends,

2022 launched the Foundation into an exciting time of transition. While the able staff team, led by Neil, stayed focused on our fundraising, grantmaking, and leadership efforts, the Board took on the search for the Foundation’s next President and CEO.

From the outset we were focused on conducting a thorough national search that included significant community input, and generated an impressive pool of diverse candidates. With help from a renowned search firm we were able to do just that. Our next President and CEO, David Cicilline, was unanimously appointed by the Board. We are confident in his abilities, intellect, commitment to Rhode Island, and accomplishments, and believe his skills and values fit perfectly with those of the Rhode Island Foundation. In addition, David’s career-long fight for equity and equality at the local, national, and international level, and his deep relationships within Rhode Island’s communities of color are two of the many factors that led us to select him as the Foundation’s next leader.

We also recognize that without Neil’s inspired leadership over the last 15 years we would not have been in a position to recruit such a dynamic and energized candidate to lead the Foundation into the future. Neil’s impact and influence on the Foundation has allowed us to realize the true potential of our state’s community foundation—he has adeptly used all of the tools a community foundation has to meet emerging need, seize opportunity, innovate, and plan for the future. We could not be more grateful.

Times of transition can be both exciting and challenging. Please know that the Board is committed to continuity—we are stewards of a 107-year-old legacy of generosity and impact, and we take that responsibility incredibly seriously. The Foundation has flourished through more than one global pandemic, economic ups-and-downs, war time, and times of peace and prosperity—it has been a continuous source of hope and a community resource, and will continue to be so.

Thank you for your partnership with Rhode Island Foundation. As Board Chair, I am consistently impressed and humbled by the commitment of our donors and community partners and am grateful to be among you.

All the best,

G. Alan Kurose, MD, MBA, FACP Board Chair

Mission

The Rhode Island Foundation is a proactive community and philanthropic leader dedicated to meeting the needs of the people of Rhode Island.