Are you a community foundation leader hoping to support residents, nonprofits, and donors as your community navigates this moment of legal and cultural uncertainty? We invite you to join CFLeads for three virtual conversations among community foundation leaders who are helping their communities lean into their shared values to find common ground, focus on solutions, and galvanize action towards a collective community vision. Each session features:

• Real-world examples of how community foundations are taking the initiative to lead with values in this current moment
• Opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and exchange in small group discussions
• Tools to help your community foundation put its organizational values into practice to build stronger, more vibrant communities.

This three-part series is free of charge and open to CEOs and staff of community foundations. Active participation is highly encouraged through small group discussions and peer exchange. Space is limited.

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Learning Series Details

Part 1: Our Values as Our Guide

• Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025
• Time: 2 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern

Featured Speakers:

• Simeon Banister, President & CEO, Rochester Area Community Foundation
• John L. S. Simpkins, President & CEO, MDC

John L. S. Simpkins, President & CEO of MDC, introduces our three-part series by highlighting the opportunity that community foundations have to lead with our values in this cultural moment.  Simeon Banister, President and CEO of the Rochester Area Community Foundation, follows with a discussion on how the Rochester Area Community Foundation centers its organizational values to bring clarity to its work in an eighty-county region in New York, especially as community members experience current policy changes, political shifts, and uncertainty.

In this session, you’ll have the opportunity to consider how your community foundation’s organizational values can be a guide for your leadership role moving forward. You’ll also hear about an interactive tool that the Rochester Area Community Foundation uses with its board and staff as an organizational pulse check, and you’ll explore that tool in small group discussions with peers from other community foundations.

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Part 2: Standing Our Ground: Making the Case for Thriving Communities

• Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
• Time: 2 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern

Featured Speaker: Dr. Tiffany Manuel, President & CEO, TheCaseMade

Community foundations are uniquely positioned to help make the case for thriving, resilient communities. This session will focus on how we can use our community position effectively and intentionally, especially in this difficult and challenging climate. 

In this session, we’ll share strategies for navigating the complex communications landscape, avoiding common pitfalls that can lead to backfires, and circumventing misinformation that can undermine community trust. We will also delve into the bridge-building work that is necessary to foster collaboration, strengthen relationships, and reinforce shared values. 

We’ll end this session by discussing how to empower community partners to enhance their own casemaking, ensuring that our collective efforts remain effective, credible, and deeply impactful. Join us for this essential conversation on standing firm while moving forward together.

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Part 3: Lessons from the Field: The Moment Ahead

• Date: Thursday, April 17, 2025
• Time: 2 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern

Featured Speakers:

• Tracy Edgerton, President & CEO, Lincoln Community Foundation
• Karen Dubois-Walton, President & CEO, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
• Erica Snow, President & CEO, Aspen Community Foundation

Our final session features perspectives from community foundation leaders who represent the diversity of places, priorities, endowments, and geographic areas that makes each community unique.

These leaders will help us make sense of key themes and take-aways from previous sessions in the series. They’ll also share how their community foundations are adapting to the post-election environment and charting next steps. We will conclude the session by providing a space for you to reflect on the ways in which you can help your community foundation embrace its organizational values and provide leadership irrespective of what lies ahead.

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Registration

Please register for the learning series by using this link. The webinar will take place on Zoom.

We hope you can join us!