Grand Rapids Community Foundation

Kudos to our community's leaders!

October 31^st, 2010

What a week this has been! We hosted our annual Donor Reception this past Friday, October 29th at UICA. Thank you to all the wonderful sponsors of our event and to the great Heartside area restaurants that made the best food ever! And thank you to Jeff Meeuwsen and his great team providing the space when we had to change the venue due to the fact our elevator is out of commission. Much appreciated!

At the event we gave John Canepa the Jack Chaille Community Philanthropy Award which is given each year to a great leader who has given their time and resources back to our community. John certainly is one GRAND leader. We were proud to give him this award! He embodies all the key strengths of leadership - former President of Old Kent Bank and Trust which is now Fifth Third Bank. He consults with the firm Crowe Horwath and has led major development efforts in our community. Grand Action is led by him along with David Frey and Dick DeVos.

This week also saw the Grand Rapids Business Journal (GRBJ) release their annual listing of "40 Under 40" - those leaders who are indeed 40 years or younger and are truly making good strides in making our community the best ever!

I was amazed by their accomplishments and while I am not going to list all the winners, I will list those I know and/or may have a relationship with the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. I am so very proud of these leaders and their accomplishments and thank the GRBJ for honoring them! I have also linked their names to the websites of the businesses/organizations they represent.

* Bridget Clark Whitney: Executive Director of Kid's Food Basket
* Emily Stoddard Furrow: Partner, DVQ Studio
* Darius Quinn: Human Resources Manager, County of Kent
* Elissa Hillary: Executive Director, Local First
* Matthew Downey: Director, Nonprofit Services & Development, Johnson Center for Philanthropy
* Latricia Trice: Marketing Communications Director, Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce
* Rachel Hood: Executive Director, West Michigan Environmental Action Council
* Rosalynn Bliss: Director, Residential Services, D.A. Blodgett/St. John's Home and a City Commissioner, City of Grand Rapids
* Rachel Mraz: Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch
* Stacy Stout: Education Director, Hispanic Center of Western Michigan
* Steve Faber : Executive Director, Friends of Grand Rapids Park
* Lorissa MacAllister: President, Enviah
* Jason Paulateer : VP and Development Advisor, PNC Bank
* Amy Ruis: Owner, Art of the Table
* Ryan Slusarzyk: Marketing Programs Manager, Amway Hotel Corp.

Also, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Greater Grand Rapids hosted their annual Leadership awards program and their website notes that this is "an annual opportunity for local nonprofit and community leaders to come together and celebrate their accomplishments."

Congratulation to all the winners:

Edison: Jamiel Robinson Open Book Project, Executive Director

Exemplary Executive: Elissa Hillary Local First & Local First Educational Foundation Executive Director

Good to Great: Denise Cheng Grand Rapids Community Media Center -The Rapidian Citizen Journalism Coordinator

Grantmaking Guru: Nicole Notario-Risk Kent County Nonprofit Technical Assistance Fund / Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation Program Manager / Program Consultant

DoGooder: Janelle Hill Arbor Circle Community Services Coordinator

Advocate: Ashley E. Nickels Grand Valley State University; National Organization for Women Women's Center Assistant Director; Grand Rapids President

Resource: Grand Rapids Community Media Center

Young Nonprofit Professional of the Year: Janay Brower Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness Coordinator

The future is in great hands! Congratulations one and all!!!!!

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Sleepless in Charlotte!

September 13^th, 2010

We all looked around the room and uttered, "What happens in Charlotte, stays in Charlotte!" to borrow a phrase from the Las Vegas ad campaign! I'm talking about the opening dinner on Saturday, September 11th of the Annual CEONet Retreat (sponsored by the community foundation CEO Network) being held in Charlotte in advance of our annual Fall Conference. Kudos to the CEO Retreat Planning Committee who include: Michael Batchelor, president, The Erie Community Foundation, Meredith Jones, president and CEO, Maine Community Foundation, Randy Royster, executive director, Albuquerque Community Foundation, Sherry Risk Stark, president and CEO, Heritage Fund -the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

This is an opportunity to share with our colleagues our hopes, dreams, trials and tribulations; thus the promise to keep quiet! AND Sherry announced that the CEO Retreat attracted the largest group ever and there was a waiting list! This retreat has grown tremendously since our early days in the late 1990's. This is definitely recognition of the important role that community foundations play in growing philanthropy and staying ahead of the curve!

HOWEVER, the planning team noted above did regale us with an entertaining musical number and "dance" called the Foundation Shuffle but that's all I'll say about it! Suffice it to say, new career paths are going to open up for Mike, Meredith, Randy and Sherry!

Why are we sleepless though? CEOs were asked to talk about "what keeps us awake at night" and Emmett Carson, President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, provided a provocative backdrop to spur on our evening's discussion. He noted five key issues that are looming large for community foundations! In summary they are:

1) The notion of "community" has changed. The concept of "rootedness" has changed. Community is not always place based like in the past.
2) Legal regulations are more onerous for those of us leading a community foundation.
3) There is increasing need for knowledge and sophistication as we go about the business of investments.
4) Information technology and systems are growing at a rapid pace and we need get ahead of the curve.
5) Our commercial competitors in the form of Fidelity and others are still a critical factor that requiring our attention even though the initial surprise of their existence back in the early 1990's has diminished.

Emmett's remarks certainly got my attention and I'm reminded of the extensive research, reports and tools developed by Lucy Bernholz, Katherine Fulton and Gabriel Kasper five years ago that led to a body of work entitled, On the Brink of New Promise: The Future of U.S. Community Foundations. As noted on the following website, http://www.communityphilanthropy.org/get.html their work noted 3 key principles:

* From the institution to the community
* From managing financial assets to long-term leadership
* From competitive independence to coordinated impact

The C.S. Mott Foundation and the Ford Foundation funded this ground-breaking research and many of us in the field provided commentary and insight as the report took shape. Actually, this was the brain child of Elan Garonzik who at that time was a program officer at the C.S. Mott Foundation. His intent was to get community foundations prepared for what he described "the next Fidelity surprise" and how could we anticipate it and prepare for it!

The trends noted in On the Brink of New Promise, the subsequent reports along with Emmett's astute summation of what we are now encountering can be viewed as opportunities for community foundation leaders. We need to pay attention and certainly we cannot slip into the "oh we've always done it this way" mode! Say that and watch the field wither away!

I'm sleepless in Charlotte but tremendously excited about our collective future!

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How a family situation helps with focusing on the right things!

September 1^st, 2010

It has been a month since I last wrote a blog entry - much too long of a time I realize! This is not a blog re: my personal life but I do want to explain the reason for the absence. I had been on vacation earlier in August dealing with issues with my mom whose health has been steadily declining. She lives in an assisted living facility outside of Detroit. Ten days ago, my mom was admitted to the hospital and likely will be there for a few more days. My time has been devoted to her and arranging next steps relating to her care. I've returned to work this week but will be back on the highway to the east side of the state later this week.

Enough of that . . . I've had a lot of time to reflect on many things as I sort through family issues and the like. My reflections have focused on the issue of the difficulty of working at times with key partners in our community. Experiencing my current personal crisis, as is usually the case, helps to prioritize what is really important and those things that simply are annoying and petty. What is really important is the strength of this community and the people and organizations that are working together to address the real "knotty" issues facing us.

We are working on creating more affordable housing options as well as addressing the foreclosure situation and the people who are suffering from losing their homes. GRCF didn't just jump into this as we've been at it for many years.

We are focusing on providing needed health and human services at school based sites for children and families. Frankly when this effort, the Kent School Services Network, was initiated four years ago, the large coalition involved hoped that one of the results would ultimately help make a positive impact on academic achievement. That goal met with some defensiveness from school system administrative leaders who didn't understand or didn't want to understand that this wasn't about them or their system. It is about taking the pressure off families and thus helping the child/student come to school ready to learn. It has been a long journey and so many more barriers and obstacles than what is necessary.

We are focusing on bringing greater awareness to area nonprofits as well as our own organization about the entire concept of cultural competency - embracing difference and celebrating it! We have created two publications regarding "Cultural Competent Communications" as one of the many things being done in these area. Also we have been delving deep into this with our staff over the past two years including a team of 6 people who are participating in an effort through the Council of Michigan Foundations regarding Diversity and Inclusion. This is a major priority of this Foundation and I'll write more about this over the next few months.

There are other key priorities but time constraints prevent me from detailing those areas so more to come in future blogs.

Crisis does help prioritize life's list of "to-dos" and my priorities are right where they need to be right now. And the Foundation's priorities are right where they need to be as well. They are constantly reviewed and discussed by our talented and bright staff and board team! We are headed in the right direction to lead, collaborate, and address those knotty issues!

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GRCF - Old School or Hip Happenin'?

July 14^th, 2010

This is Leadership! You will be reading and hearing a great deal more about the Foundation's leadership efforts in the coming months and I hope you enjoy reading the stories and examples. For months, we have been creating ways to tell our story with greater clarity and in a compelling fashion that makes you want to learn more! The power of philanthropy and the strong collaborative nature of our community are dynamic forces! In the Spring 2010 edition of our news magazine Current I wrote about "this thing called leadership" pointing out that there are many efforts where the GRCF staff are addressing key issues and collaborating with many great organizations in our community. In the Summer 2010 edition of Current I wrote about the endowment building capacity of the Foundation and noted that it is definitely a strong form of sustainability - meaning it is truly a relevant and meaningful way to leverage support for major (and minor) issues! Take a look at the grants profiles (scroll down the page a bit) we are posting on the GRCF website along with other publications to gain keen insight on key issues in our area and the great grants we are making coupled with the strength of our staff and volunteers addressing knotty community issues!

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Leadership! The Basics!!!

July 1^st, 2010

In the late 1990s, a group of committed community foundation leaders had a dream for the future of the field and set a course to make that dream a reality. The Committee on Community Foundations went through a "revolution" of sorts, morphing into the Community Foundation Leadership Team (CFLT) as we know it today.

As the changes were taking hold, two major developments unfolded.

One was the articulation of values that helped define community foundations. It led to the standards that shape and guide the field today. The other was the creation of courses designed to provide staff and board members a solid knowledge base regarding community foundations. This professional development program is called the Center for Community Foundation Excellence.

Basic Fundamentals was the first course developed. Other specialized courses were created in the areas of finance and administration, resource development, and community leadership. The course Basic Fundamentals is designed to provide newer staff and board members key information about the field, as well as a review of the legal issues relevant to all community foundations.

Mary Jalonick, president of The Dallas Foundation, and I, as president of Grand Rapids Community Foundation, recently had the pleasure of again teaching the two-day Basic Fundamentals at the Council on Foundations offices in Crystal City, Virginia. We shared a mountain of critical information through presentations and interactive exercises that brought to life the experiences and scenarios facing community foundations.

The class members were from every corner of the United States and represented both small and larger community foundations. The group actively participated and presented thoughtful and enthusiastic questions.

The Basic Fundamentals course implies an introduction to community foundations. It is anything but. It represents a firm foundation to start any career in the dynamic field of community foundations.

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