Florida community foundation CEOs & board members meet at the Florida Philanthropic Network
In March, the Florida Philanthropic Network gathered Florida community foundation CEOs and board members for a leadership retreat! President and CEO of CFLeads, Mary Thomas, moderated a panel discussion with Dawn Belamarich, President & CEO of Collaboratory, Phillip Lanham, President and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation, and Isaiah Oliver, President of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida for an insightful and candid conversation about community leadership.
Thank you to the Florida Philanthropic Network for having us!
CFLeads President & CEO presents at The Winston-Salem Foundation
Mary L. Thomas, President and CEO of CFLeads had the privilege of joining LaTida Smith, President of The Winston-Salem Foundation along with her incredible team and board to present insights on community leadership and the power and potential of community foundations. Mary shared the CFLeads Framework for Community Leadership and her own journey in community leadership.
At CFLeads, we’re committed to empowering community foundations to reach new heights and make a meaningful impact through community leadership. Together, we’re unlocking possibilities and fostering positive change in communities!
Thank you, LaTida Smith, for the invitation and for championing meaningful conversations about community leadership. Here’s to many more collaborations and transformative initiatives ahead!
Connecting Communities in the Americas (CCA) Symposium in Florianópolis, Brazil
Connecting Communities in the Americas (CCA) grantees Ayiti Community Trust, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and the San Antonio Area Foundation visited two Brazilian foundations, Taboa and ICOM, in early March and participated in a symposium for existing and emerging Brazilian territorial foundations, led by CCA.
Participants had to opportunity to see how local initiatives on women’s economic mobility, resilience during gentrification and natural disasters, and community integration/welcoming are being supported by our colleagues throughout Brazil. If you would like to receive updates on the latest CCA opportunities sign up below.
Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) for CFOs meet for their fifth quarterly call
In March, the Executive Leadership Institute for CFOs met for their fifth quarterly virtual call! The cohort discussed investments and endowments, and focused on RFPs for investment, impact investing, and the importance of communicating with donors!
Thank you to Leslie Sabin, CFO, Santa Fe Community Foundation and Brett Hunkins, CFO, Community Foundation of Greater Flint for advising this call!
Executive Leadership Institute for CEOs met for their first virtual interim call
The 2024 ELI for CEOs cohort met for their first virtual interim call in March. Participants heard from Clotilde Dedecker, former President/CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and Senior Leadership Advisor to CFLeads. Clotilde presented her community leadership journey during her time in Buffalo, focusing on board role, equity, and business model.
Participants then discussed measuring the impact of their community foundations’ work and how they can further engage their communities. Thank you to everyone who participated, and thank you to Clotilde for your impactful insights!
The CFLeads & Welcoming America Community of Practice meet for the first time virtually
The first virtual meeting of the CFLeads & Welcoming America Community of Practice (CoP) took place in March! The CoP is made up of 15 community foundations from across the country and is designed to support community foundations in deepening their welcoming and belonging work and knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The first meeting included introductions, an overview of available tools, and stories from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and Community Foundation of Gunnison Valley.
The CoP will meet in person on April 10 in Dallas at the Welcoming Interactive.
Press Forward Locals: Catalyzing Your Local Journalism Ecosystem
In March CFLeads and Press Forward, a national philanthropy movement powered by The Miami Foundation collaborated on a webinar about the importance of local journalism, how community foundations can start a Press Forward chapter and how national funders can support community foundations in their efforts.
Thank you to our wonderful speakers:
- Dale R. Anglin, Director, Press Forward
- Courtney Bengston, Chief Strategy Officer, Wichita Foundation
- Teresa Gorman, Associate Director, Democracy Fund
- Len Bartel (moderator), Vice President for Learning and Impact (Capacity-Building), CFLeads
CFLeads x HUD Webinar Series: The Role of Community Foundations in Addressing Housing Supply
At the end of March, CFLeads hosted the second webinar in new series of virtual webinars with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s International and Philanthropic Affairs Division.
The series of webinars is designed to help strengthen communication and coordination between HUD and community foundations. The second webinar in this three-part series featured presentations from both HUD and community foundations, who shared their unique perspectives, promising practices, and challenges faced in addressing the U.S. housing supply.
Thank you to our dynamic speakers:
- Mary Thomas, President & CEO, CFLeads
- Kera Package, Chief of Staff, Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Walker Sanders, President, The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
- Shandra Richardson, Program Director of Strategic Initiatives, The Chicago Community Trust
- Leonard Brock (moderator), Vice President for Learning and Impact (Issues), CFLeads
- Join CCA on April 18 for a Peer Resource Sharing session on Working with Local Leaders!
- Sign up for a webinar on April 22 with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque about the Community Heart & Soul initiative.
- Register today for the Practice and Purpose of Policy course with CFLeads and COF on May 21 & 22.
- Become a CFLeads Investor! Join the national network of community foundations committed to community leadership and support our work.
