u | issue 3 2015
DESCRIPTION
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation's quarterly newsletter.TRANSCRIPT
UpdateKalamazoo Community FoundationIssue 3 2015U
Equity: Engaging people, increasing capacity, removing barriersWE SEE EQUITY AS NOT ONLY A TOP STRATEGIC PRIORITY, BUT ALSO AS A CORE VALUE
AND FRAMEWORK FOR ALL OF OUR WORK [PAGE 4]
Susan SpringgateVice President, Finance & Administration
2 KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ISSUE 3 2015
These are busy times here at your Community Foundation.
This spring the Finance & Administration team focused on the annual financial statement audit, which received an unqualified opinion — the highest opinion given by auditors. Currently the leadership team is analyzing the results of the second study of our revenues and costs. We want to ensure our operations and funding mechanisms are operating at the highest efficiency and that the business model is in alignment with our strategy.
If you’ve seen our 2014 Annual Report, you know that a national survey by Council on Foundations found that our seven-year investment return ranked first among all community foundations. We are diligent in our care of funds entrusted here, striving to provide maximum grantmaking and community leadership investments while preserving the original purchasing value of gifts. We are committed to an investment strategy of disciplined asset allocation, regular rebalancing, minimizing fees and expenses, and not reacting to near-term market pressures or new investment fads.
Leveraging the ever-lasting power of endowed funds — especially unrestricted gifts — provides your Community Foundation with the means to do critical work in the community, such as equity, which you’ll be reading about in this issue.
The journey to equity is long, but it is rewarding to know the work we are doing — with many community partners — will break down the barriers that prevent all of our neighbors from accessing the opportunities that have traditionally only been available to some. I feel privileged to work for an organization with equity as a key goal.
Love where you live.
( 269.381.4416
8 www.kalfound.org
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twitter.com/kalfound
ConnectGiveGive online www.kalfound.org/give
Mail a check Kalamazoo Community Foundation 402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888
Make a planned gift There are many ways for you to plan now for a gift later. To learn more, get in touch with our Donor Relations team at 269.381.4416 or [email protected].
ReceiveWhat we fund We fund 501(c)(3) nonprofits for projects that fit within our community investment priorities and will benefit Kalamazoo County.
What we don’t fund We don’t fund for-profit business development projects, private land purchases or private home purchases.
How to apply Start the process at www.kalfound.org/howtoapply.
We’d love to know what you think of this publication. Share your feedback at www.kalfound.org/feedback.
ISSUE 3 2015 KALFOUND.ORG 3
It should be no surprise to anyone
that gender inequality is a pervasive
and systemic problem around the
world. Right here in the United
States, women lack an equitable
place at the table in just about
every major political, social and
economic institution. Specifically,
the gap in women in electoral
politics is ubiquitous even though
women have been outvoting men
since the 1980s. For example,
women comprise approximately
20 percent of the seats in Congress
and less than 25 percent of the
seats in the State Legislatures
and statewide elected executive
offices. Historically our society has
discouraged women from getting
involved in electoral politics. We
must continue to alter this mindset
and encourage women to run for
political office at every level.
Tracy HallWestern Michigan University
Gender & Women’s Studies and Political Science
Michigan holds a special place in
my heart as it received me with
open arms when I was a newcomer.
Michiganders welcomed me in
many ways: they loaned me their
cars to do groceries, they invited
me home for Thanksgiving, and
they connected me to jobs. These
acts of kindness set me up for
success. Today, I promote the same
values in my community-building
work around immigrant integration.
I believe it is imperative to build
and support strong, secure and
successful places to live. We must
work together and leverage the
full potential of all who live
here, so that we may improve
the livelihoods of all our
neighbors, including the 12,175
foreign-born residents of this
community. Extending a hand can
benefit us all. Together. It’s better.
Jonathan RomeroMichigan Immigrants Rights Center
and Welcoming Michigan
We have more work to do when it
comes to equality for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and queer
individuals and families. When
40 percent of homeless youth
are LGBTQ, we must do more.
When transwomen are being
criminalized and murdered, we
must do more. When it is still legal
in Michigan to fire or refuse housing
to someone because they are
LGBTQ, we must do more. When
safe health care is not accessible
to LGBTQ people we must do
more. Until we acknowledge the
intersections between racial justice,
immigrant justice, economic justice,
reproductive justice and LGBTQ
justice, we cannot do more. It’s
time for us, as a community to do
more by acknowledging how our
individual causes are tied. We are
stronger in action together.
Jay MaddockKalamazoo Gay Lesbian
Resource Center
Equity for allThe Kalamazoo Community Foundation envisions a community where
every person can reach full potential. This can’t happen unless all people have equitable opportunities to live positive lives. Here, in their own words, are the personal perspectives of three partners working towards equity for people in Kalamazoo County.
equityequality
Equity: Engaging people, increasing capacity, removing barriersLately it seems as though reports
highlighting disparities in infant
mortality rates, high school graduation
rates, health care access, employment
rates are surfacing with increasing
frequency. It can be easy to “sleep
through the static,” until we consider
that the numbers in these reports
are actually people.
These reports don’t just present
information; they tell stories — stories
about children, their parents, our
community. When we value these
reports for the stories they tell and not
just the numbers they present, we can
better understand that unless we are
all doing better, our community will
not truly succeed. Until we remove the
barriers some encounter, Kalamazoo
County cannot be a community where
every person can reach full potential.
Over the last few years, we’ve
learned that expanding the diversity
of the voices we hear can greatly
improve how we understand and
address community issues. So we’ve
become more intentional about
engaging the community, and strive
to incorporate diverse perspectives
as “standard operating procedure.”
As a demonstration of this, our first
step in planning our 2015 Community
4 KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ISSUE 3 2015
We cannot be the community we believe we are, until racism, homophobia, sexism and discrimination of all kinds is not a part of anyone’s daily life.
2015 Community Meeting8 p.m. on Nov. 3 | Miller Auditorium
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Special thanks to our lead sponsor:
ISSUE 3 2015 KALFOUND.ORG 5
Meeting was to ask our community
partners to share their suggestions
for speakers who could provide a
thought-provoking message that
would help us all better understand
the concept of equity. As a result,
the November event will feature
best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates,
who will speak about race in America.
[Sponsored by PNC Bank, Coates’
talk is also part of a University
Center for the Humanities at
WMU’s 2015/2016 speaker series:
Reimagining Communities.]
Input from the community also
informed the identification of our
strategic priorities: equity and
education. We are committed to
improving educational outcomes
and removing the barriers that
prevent all people from reaching
full potential. As we engage in this
work, understanding equity becomes
critical. Says President/CEO Carrie
Pickett-Erway, “As an organization,
we recognized early on that to be
effective at increasing equity and
reducing disparities, we would have
to address the gaps in our own
awareness, knowledge and capacity.”
“While we’ve been working hard on
this for several years, we know our
learned experience is inadequate
and incomplete compared to the
lived experience of people who
are the targets of discrimination,”
she says. “So working with the
community and not just for the
community is essential.”
Many community partners —
individuals, organizations and
consultants — have already begun
to help us shape a strategy for
impacting equity in Kalamazoo
County. We are currently conducting
a scan of equity work going on in
the county.
“By better understanding what
assets and resources — human
and financial — we have, we will
be able to determine where we
have the greatest opportunity to
leverage our support and offer
leadership.” says Pickett-Erway.
“We hope to identify the gaps that
are not being addressed, identify
how we might help those that are
already doing great work, and
elevate our collective efforts to
transform our community.”
At the same time, we also continue
to examine our internal policies
and practices. We need to ensure
that every aspect of our daily work
— in every functional area and at
every level — fully reflects our core
values: diversity, equity and inclusion;
integrity; and excellence.
We know the people who live,
work and raise their families in
Kalamazoo County passionately
believe it is a special place where
amazing things happen. We
believe this passion can provide
the momentum our community
needs to eliminate the social,
legal, economic and other barriers
that prevent every person from
reaching full potential and living
positive lives.
We envision a community where every person can reach full potential, and that can’t happen unless all people have equitable opportunities to live positive lives. At our 2015 Community Meeting, Ta-Nehisi Coates will talk with us about race in America.
Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics and social issues. He is the author of The Beautiful Struggle and Between the World and Me. Written as a letter to
his 15-year-old son, Between the World and Me discusses America’s history of racial violence, and explores what it is like to be black in this country. He is Journalist-in-Residence at the School of Journalism at City University of New York and previously served as Martin Luther King Visiting Associate Professor at MIT. He received the George Polk Award for Commentary in 2014.
Register for free by calling 269.381.4416 or visiting www.kalfound.org/2015CM.
6 KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ISSUE 3 2015
12 GRANTS AWARDED FROM STRATEGIC, FLEXIBLE RESOURCES
Recent grant highlights
We awarded 12 grants totaling nearly $1.2 million
to Kalamazoo County nonprofits in our most recent
grantmaking round.
We make community investments in quality programs that
we believe will make Kalamazoo County a place where
every person can reach full potential.
The nonprofits that received grants are:
• Crescendo Academy of Music
• Community Healing Centers, Inc.
• Comstock Community Center
• Douglass Community Association
• Kalamazoo County Land Bank / Vibrant Kalamazoo
• Kalamazoo County Ready 4s
• Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes
• Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
• United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region
• Volunteer Kalamazoo
• YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo (two grants)
Investment performance is net of manager fees and derived from core Kalamazoo Community Foundation assets allocated into its two investment strategies. Historic performance for each is then derived from linkages to prior quarterly returns. Performance reflects prior changes in asset allocations while benchmarks assume current allocations. For more information about our investment performance, please contact Susan Springgate at 269.381.4416 or [email protected].
Kalamazoo Community Foundation Investment PerformanceSECOND QUARTER 2015
Core Assets Qtr 2 YTD 3 Yrs 5 Yrs 7 Yrs
Moderate Growth Performance
Actual
Benchmark
0.3%
0.2%
1.9%
1.4%
12.4%
10.7%
12.1%
11.0%
8.5%
7.3%
Income and Growth Performance
Actual
Benchmark
-0.6%
-0.7%
1.0%
0.7%
9.9%
9.4%
10.6%
10.4%
8.6%
7.4%
Learn more about our grantmaking online at www.kalfound.org/grants.8
Mary Spradling died in 2009.
Mary loved Kalamazoo. She was Kalamazoo Public Library’s
first black professional librarian and was instrumental in
initiating the city’s official recognition of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.’s legacy. Her own legacy is a collection of 2,800
books, magazines and record albums highlighting the
history, experiences and contributions of African Americans
that she donated to Kalamazoo Valley Community College
in 1998. A Community Foundation fund created in her
honor by friends maintains and enhances the collection.
We can help you show your love for Kalamazoo and leave a legacy too. Contact a member of our Donor Relations team or visit www.kalfound.org to learn how.
Today she’s teaching people about the history, experiences and contributions of African Americans.
Our Team Zach Bauer 269.585.7236 / [email protected]
Coby Chalmers 269.585.7249 / [email protected]
Joanna Donnelly Dales 269.585.7260 / [email protected]
Ann Fergemann 269.585.7238 / [email protected]
Jeanne Grubb 269.585.7248 / [email protected]
ISSUE 3 2015 KALFOUND.ORG 7
Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. PostagepaidKalamazoo, MI Permit Number 66
402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888
269.381.4416 www.kalfound.org
KZCF: Then and NowA few things have changed since the Community Foundation was born in 1925.
Then In 1925, a committee of five community leaders — Alfred Connable, Elias Hoekstra, Edward Desenberg, Harold Upjohn (pictured top left) and William Lawrence Sr. — guided the activities of the Community Foundation. Early lead administrators performed their tasks as additional duties to regular jobs and had the title of secretary, beginning with Earl Weber, who served for nearly three decades. There would be acting secretaries such as Richard Light, Harold Allen and Merrill Taylor, until Howard Kalleward became Executive Secretary in 1967 and led the organization for two decades. In the 1990s, following Kalleward, our leaders became known as President/CEO and include: Dr. Jack Hopkins, Dr. Juan Olivarez and Don VanderKooy (as Interim President/CEO).
Now Carrie Pickett-Erway, pictured below left, is our President/CEO (the first woman to serve in this role) and we are governed by a seven-member board of trustees: Si Johnson, chairperson; Frank Sardone, vice chairperson; Jim Escamilla; Barbara James; Amy Upjohn; Hon. Carolyn Williams; and Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. Our trustees represent diverse community interests and, as trustees have since 1925, donate their time, energy and expertise to help us identify opportunities for long-term community impact, respond appropriately when unforeseen challenges arise, and address community needs.
1925 2015
On the CoverTo help us and the community get ready for our 2015 Community Meeting on November 3, we’re working with a variety of community partners who are advancing equity in Kalamazoo County. Pictured with President/CEO Carrie Pickett Erway (second from left) are (from left to right) Donna Odom, SHARE; Jacob Pinney-Johnson, SHARE; Rev. Dr. B. Jo Ann Mundy, ERACCE; Chéree Thomas, SHARE and Douglass Community Association; Lillie Wolff, ERACCE; and Fernando Ospina, ERACCE.
Photo by Jacqueline Luttrell