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The Community Foundation welcomed Sarah Kearney, PRIME Coalition’s Founder and Executive Director, to speak with various members of our team last Friday, March 29th.  Sarah shared her experiences in innovating an entrepreneurial and philanthropic approach to environmental new ventures and knowledge of charitable giving. For more information about our event, watch the video below or contact Katie Kling or Jan Dorman.

The Nonprofit Quarterly features the work of the Community Foundation to respond to community tragedy and to sharpen its focus on equity in order to improve the quality of life for all residents in the area.

Through a Strengthening Systems grant, the Community Foundation funded a multi-year study that will help feed the hungry in Louisa County. The Louisa County Resource Center collaborated with UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service to better understand and address food-insecurity needs in the county. The work was featured in UVA Today and NBC29 News.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of two new team members. Aiyana Marcus joined the Foundation as Programs Manager on January 7, and Latibe Seidou began her role as Executive Assistant on January 14.

Marcus brings significant experience in the nonprofit sector to her new role as Programs Manager. A Certified Nonprofit Professional, she previously worked for nonprofit organizations and as Program Officer for the Dayton Foundation in Dayton, Ohio. At the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Marcus will be responsible for managing large grant programs, including the Strengthening Systems and Shaping Futures programs. A Cum Laude graduate of The Ohio State University, she has also been a playwright, producer, director, choreographer and dancer in a series of original plays and dance productions exploring poverty, race relations, single motherhood and the cultural experiences of black peoples.

“Aiyana has been planning to relocate to Charlottesville and has already built relationships with local community and nonprofit leaders, who are excited for her to join our community,” says Director of Programs Eboni Bugg. “She has a strong background in grassroots community work, trust-building and nonprofit collaboration, and she’s been a leader in community conversations about equity.”

Latibe Seidou most recently worked in a similar role at the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in Charlottesville, before joining the Foundation team as Executive Assistant. Throughout her almost 20-year career, Seidou has served in executive administration roles in Charlottesville, Washington DC, Northern Virginia and New Jersey. Fluent in French, she holds degrees from the University of Benin, Togo.

“I am delighted to welcome Latibe to the Community Foundation — she brings a wealth of experience and talent to our organization with her excellent, organizational, administrative and event-planning skills,” says Brennan Gould, President and CEO. “Her past colleagues describe her as highly professional, personable and extremely trustworthy.”

This spring, the Community Foundation will be recruiting a Director of Advancement and a Communications Manager. Updates about these opportunities will be available on the Foundation’s website.

“Part of what we heard from our community that was needed for the healing was opportunities to act, opportunities to really be good and honest about our collective history,” says Foundation President Brennan Gould. “And also to start to act in ways that will that will help address the impacts of that history.” See full NPR story.

On Wednesday evening, November 28, 2018, foundation leaders from around the nation gathered in Washington, DC, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts to recognize the leadership and creativity of some of the most esteemed philanthropic leaders in the United States. Among those recognized was Brennan Gould, president and chief executive officer, Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

The Council on Foundations presented Brennan with the Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking. Magui Rubalcava Shulman, president and chief executive officer, Borealis Philanthropy located in Minnesota, presented Brennan with the award and referenced her leadership in disbursing $1.4 million in the region through the Heal Charlottesville Fund.

Joining Brennan at the awards ceremony were members of her family, CACF Board Chair Jay Kessler and Community Foundation team members.

“I am deeply humbled by this prestigious award and grateful to the Council on Foundations,” said Brennan Gould, president and chief executive officer, Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. “I share this award with the Foundation board, team, the Concert for Charlottesville and many generous donors, the broader Charlottesville community, and the hardworking and dedicated grant partners who are working toward an equitable and inclusive region.”

The Scrivner Award was established in 1984 as a tribute to the creative legacy of the late Robert Winston Scrivner, former staff associate of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and first executive director of the Rockefeller Family Fund, by a number of his friends and colleagues. The award has honored grantmakers from around the country who are making an impact in a wide variety of fields. Recent recipients have addressed a range of issues, including universal access to a free and open Internet, helping arts organizations in San Francisco find affordable and permanent spaces, supporting immigrants in Long Island, improving access to mental health services in Denver, and advocating for women’s rights internationally.

In addition to a glass sculpture, Brennan received a $10,000 prize, which she has donated to the Foundation to continue their work on initiatives related to combating racism and inequities in Charlottesville.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation’s president and chief executive officer, Ms. Brennan Gould, will receive the 2018 Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking from the Council on Foundations.

Ms. Gould, who previously served as director of grant-funded programs at CACF, was selected as its president in June of this year. She led efforts to create the Heal Charlottesville Fund, which was the primary financial supporter of survivors impacted by the horrific white supremacist acts in August 2017. With the generous support of local donors, UVA alumni, Concert for Charlottesville and corporate foundations, the Heal Charlottesville Fund granted $1.4 million to survivors, as well as awarded grants to local residents, nonprofits and business leaders dedicated to combating structural and systematic racial inequities in the city.

“I am humbled by this incredible award and thank the Council on Foundations for recognizing our collective efforts,” said Ms. Gould. “I share this honor with the Foundation’s board of directors, staff and most importantly with the Charlottesville community.”

Founded in 1949, The Council on Foundations is a Washington, DC-based association of non-profits, grantmaking foundations and corporations. Their mission is to empower professionals in philanthropy to meet today’s toughest challenges and advance a culture of charitable giving in the U.S. and globally.

“The Scrivner Award was created to recognize grantmakers who come up with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing challenges,” said Gene Cochrane, interim president and CEO of the Council on Foundations. “Through a thoughtful grant creation process that involved listening and engaging the local community, the Heal Charlottesville Fund has evolved into an effort that is helping its community rebuild, by assisting those directly impacted during the riots as well as working to bridge long-existing divides. It epitomizes philanthropy’s goal to promote the common good.”

The Council on Foundations will formally present Ms. Gould the Scrivner Award in November 2018 at the Women’s History Museum in Washington, DC.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is pleased to announce Eboni Bugg as its new Director of Programs, effective October 1. Bugg will lead grantmaking activity and strategic projects with the Foundation’s community partners, including nonprofits, government organizations and individuals who are working to improve the quality of life in the Charlottesville area.

“Eboni’s experience, skillset, and passion for our region make her a perfect fit for this position,” says Brennan Gould, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “She has deep ties to the community and has been dedicated to improving lives throughout her career. We are thrilled to have Eboni as part of our team to advance our grantmaking and partnership work.”

Eboni Bugg has served the Charlottesville area for more than two decades as an educator, social worker, therapist and advocate. Through her private practice, she has helped individuals heal, provided consultation for developing clinicians, and conducted workshops and trainings for community-based organizations. 

“I am excited to begin my work as Director of Programs. It allows me to reinvest in improving lives in the Charlottesville region, while reimagining the future of philanthropy with an eye towards engagement and equity,” says Bugg. “It is an honor to join such an impactful organization and I am looking forward to being a resource for the community, our generous donors and grant partners.”

Bugg holds an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Virginia and a master’s in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has served as Programs Director with The Women’s Initiative, where she launched innovative programming and developed partnerships to meet the mental health needs of underserved populations in our community during her five-year tenure. 

Most recently, she was Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Global Outreach for the Mind & Life Institute, an organization dedicated to furthering the field of contemplative research to alleviate suffering and promoting human flourishing. She has also served on the CACF Grants Portfolio Committee and is a member of the Second Street Gallery Board of Directors. 

In the week before the one-year anniversary of the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, an op-ed titled “Healing Our Charlottesville” by Community Foundation President Brennan Gould appeared in national news markets, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Oakland and Washington, DC.