Paving the Way: CFLeads’ Economic Mobility Action Network (EMAN) Builds Momentum Toward Generational Change
No matter where you live or what background you come from, we all want—and deserve—to build a better future for ourselves, our families, and our neighbors. Yet not everyone in every community has the same access to quality education, good life-sustaining jobs, affordable housing, safe environments, and civic participation and justice. Across the country, community foundations have recognized that they have a role to play in advancing “economic mobility” or “upward mobility.” CFLeads defines economic mobility using the Urban Institute’s three-part framework: the ability of people to improve their economic status, have power and autonomy over their lives, and be engaged in and valued by their community.
This report describes the work of CFLeads’ 2024–2025 Economic Mobility Action Network (EMAN), made up of 19 communities from across the nation. Led by community foundations, these cross-sector teams learned alongside one another through in-person and virtual gatherings while strengthening local economic mobility strategies and deepening their reserve of resources. The stories and insights shared throughout this report complement the accompanying case studies documenting each community’s economic mobility journey and the long-term work required to help communities not just survive economically, but thrive.
Advanced Cohort Participants
ACT for Alexandria (ACT) serves the Alexandria, Virginia community by bringing people and resources together, funding community-based solutions, and strengthening foundational human services systems to support economic wellbeing and a thriving community. “Our belief is that the wisdom of residents with lived experience will lead to the best solutions to improve economic mobility in the city.”
Cambridge Community Foundation, serving Cambridge, Massachusetts, is committed to thinking big and pursuing bold, innovative ideas to solve the city’s most pressing problems. Through the foundation’s growing economic mobility strategy, including guaranteed income, food security, education, and housing stability, Cambridge families and young adults will have better access to resources and opportunities for financial and social mobility.
Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, Virginia serves the cities of Richmond, Ashland, Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Goochland, and Powhatan. The foundation is focused on achieving significant, measurable improvements in economic mobility for all and expanding opportunity for historically under-served populations that have benefitted the least from the growing prosperity of the RVA region.
The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo connects people, ideas and resources to improve lives in Western New York. The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo envisions a vibrant and equitable Greater Buffalo region where every individual thrives.
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque covers a primarily rural, seven-county area in Eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River. The foundation has economic mobility as a key pillar and seeks to create a vibrant community where everyone can thrive through access to resources and opportunities.
Leading on Opportunity (LOO), an entity which was housed out of the Foundation For The Carolinas, covered a 13-county region across North and South Carolina. The Foundation and LOO aimed to expand and share the impact of using strategy, policy and data to solve complex social challenges that no single person or organization can tackle on their own.
As the community foundation for Eastern Washington and North Idaho, Innovia Foundation proudly serves 10 Eastern Washington counties and 10 North Idaho counties, along with 6 Native American tribes. The Foundation is engaging residents and investing in key initiatives related to rural community development, including a promise scholarship program and related supports to improve economic mobility.
North Texas Community Foundation serves an 11-county region across North Texas as a resource through convening thought leaders, donors, private foundations, and nonprofit partners to develop a strategic approach and mobilize resources. The Foundation’s current economic mobility focus is to support the community in establishing options for affordable housing, helping students and families gain pathways to college and careers, growing capacity building for nonprofits addressing poverty, and developing vibrant neighborhoods with a strong sense of community.
The Rochester Area Community Foundation covers eight counties in the state of New York including Monroe, Genesee, Orleans, Livingston, Wayne, Yates, Seneca and Ontario. The Foundation is deeply committed to the Upward Mobility framework across all departments and strategic initiatives, emphasizing their discretionary grantmaking, community leadership, and fundraising with a specific focus on access to quality preschool and kindergarten readiness.
Scranton Area Community Foundation serves Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, and believes that complex problems can best be tackled through honest and committed partnerships with community members, organizations, and multi-sector representation from diverse backgrounds and perspectives that represents the region’s population. The Foundation aspires to become a valuable resource for organizations and industries seeking to develop programs and initiatives that support economic mobility across the region.
Intermediate Cohort Participants
Community Foundation Boulder County covers Boulder County, Colorado, and is dedicated to nurturing and activating the ideas, generosity, and leadership of the community to galvanize resources and support equitable solutions for all. The Foundation serves as a key convener, catalyst, and collaborator in support of community-led equity initiatives to expand access to diverse, affordable housing as a significant strategy to support economic mobility for individuals and families.
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation serves the 23 towns that comprise Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Foundation FCCF works to address the root causes of the region’s greatest disparities in education, health, housing, and income and asset building to improve an individual’s ability to realize their potential and attain upward economic mobility.
Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky serves 54 Appalachian Regional Commission designated Counties in Kentucky and specifically, Breathitt, Clinton, Floyd, Jackson, Knott, Johnson, Leslie, Letcher, Perry, Pike, Estill, Lee, Menifee, Powell, Wolfe, Bell, Clay, Knox, Laurel, and Whitley Counties. The Foundation believes in consistently and intentionally shifting control back into the hands of local leaders by supporting communities, growing assets, and strengthening leadership. “We are rising where we’re rooted.”
The Greater Milwaukee Foundations covers the four counties in Southeastern Wisconsin including Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington. As Wisconsin’s largest community foundation and among the first established in the world in 1915, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation is committed to reimagining philanthropy, catalyzing systems change, convening and following community voice, and building an inclusive culture to transform the region.
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation serves Kalamazoo County, Michigan, and has directly and indirectly focused on economic mobility for a majority of its 100-year history. The foundation’s economic mobility work spans wealth attainment, housing stability and entrepreneurship supports.
The Pittsburgh Foundation works to improve the quality of life in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, region by evaluating and addressing community issues, promoting responsible philanthropy, and connecting donors to the critical needs of the community. The foundation aspires to lift families, households and communities out of poverty and reduce the region’s racial wealth gap.
The Winston-Salem Foundation covers Forsyth County, North Carolina. The Foundation uses local data and resident voice to identify priority areas for the community, including a focus on grantmaking towards Equity in Education and Building an Inclusive Economy.
The Wichita Foundation supports South Central Kansas, with a special focus on the Wichita, Kansas community. As a place-based foundation, Wichita Foundation recognizes that access to knowledge, tools, and economic opportunities is essential for building a thriving community. By investing in targeted solutions, the Foundation aims to empower their diverse and evolving population, driving sustainable economic growth and long-term vitality for the city.
Yellow Springs Community Foundation serves the Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio and surrounding Miami Township. The Foundation aims to increase their impact on the pressing affordability challenges the village faces while prioritizing economic mobility and serving as catalysts for positive change in Yellow Springs. At the center of the Foundation’s work is the YSEQUITY Guaranteed Income Program, launched in 2021.