News & Event
Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF), in partnership with its first Cincinnati Black Giving Circle, has awarded $100,000 in grants to four nonprofit organizations working to address racial inequities faced by emancipated youth, young children and single mothers in our region.
February 2020
Cincinnati Black Giving Circle Grant Recipients (above)
Cincinnati Black Giving Circle members (above)
These four nonprofits will each receive $25,000:
The inaugural Cincinnati Black Giving Circle was formed as a result of GCF’s Giving Black: Cincinnati report, which explored both the rich legacy of black philanthropy in our region and the giving priorities and perspectives of black donors today. It provides hands-on impact, encouraging and leveraging organized giving by black donors to nonprofits serving critical needs faced by black residents in our communities.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the success of this first Cincinnati Black Giving Circle,” said GCF President/CEO Ellen M. Katz. “The passion and commitment of the members to drive the transformative impact of their generosity is truly inspiring.”
The Cincinnati Black Giving Circle’s steering committee met to collectively determine the focus of the grants and to seek proposal requests, which were then evaluated and voted on by the Giving Circle’s members.
This Giving Circle was one of five GCF Giving Circles convened in the past year, generating a total of $352,000 to benefit 29 nonprofit organizations in our community. GCF will partner in the formation of another Cincinnati Black Giving Circle this year.
CINCINNATI (September 12, 2019) – Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s (GCF) 2019 Animal Welfare Giving Circle has awarded a total of $92,500 in grants to nine nonprofit organizations with initiatives and projects that protect, respect and nurture the well-being of pets, neglected animals and the entire animal kingdom. The grantees include:
Animal Friends Humane Society $10,000
Boone County Animal Care & Control $10,000
Clermont Animal CARE Humane Society $10,000
Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART) of Cincinnati, Inc. $10,500
Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati $7,000
League for Animal Welfare $10,500
Ohio Alleycat Resource and Spay/Neuter Clinic $14,000
Pets In Need of Greater Cincinnati, Inc. $10,000
Stray Animal Adoption Program $10,500
GCF provided a 2:1 match on the contributions made by giving circle participants.
“The Animal Welfare Giving Circle consists of GCF’s compassionate donors and community members who have a big heart for our furry friends,” said GCF Philanthropic Advisor Mary R. Pitcairn. “Whether it’s addressing overpopulation of stray animals or assisting with medical care, these funds will go a long way in helping our region’s pets and the humans who love them.”
The Animal Welfare Giving Circle is one of five GCF Giving Circle opportunities this year, including Northern Kentucky, Giving Black, Arts and Culture and the NEXT Fund for young people. Giving Circles provide hands-on opportunities to like-minded people to pool their resources, explore together how to best support causes they care about and, as a group, decided how to allocate their combined resources. Giving Circles foster a deepened sense of ownership in the progress of our community, and participants often develop ongoing relationships — with each other and with their grantee organizations.
To learn more about additional GCF 2019 Giving Circle opportunities, visit www.gcfdn.org/givingcircles.
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About Greater Cincinnati Foundation
As the region’s leading community foundation, Greater Cincinnati Foundation connects people with purpose in an eight-county region in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. GCF is leading the charge toward a more vibrant Greater Cincinnati for everyone — now, and for generations to come.
CINCINNATI (December 4, 2019) – Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s (GCF) 2019 Arts and Culture Giving Circle has awarded a total of $95,000 in grants to nine nonprofit organizations with “Creative Placemaking” projects, programming and cultural events that help transform communities into lively, inclusive and resilient places with arts at their core. Giving Circle participants placed a particular emphasis on local efforts that enhance the quality of life and help build relationships and opportunities for current community residents. GCF and nine generous donors combined resources to provide grants to the following organizations:
Art Central Foundation, Inc. $4,500
Art Opportunities Inc. $6,250
Clifton Cultural Arts Center $6,250
Contemporary Arts Center $8,000
Elementz $10,000
Kennedy Heights Arts Center $10,000
Pones Inc. $15,000
St. Aloysius Orphanage $10,000
Wave Pool: A Contemporary Art Fulfillment Center $25,000
“The Arts and Culture Giving Circle members took on a new focus with Creative Placemaking this year,” said GCF Senior Philanthropic Advisor Felicia Zakem. “Everyone involved has a passion for the arts in some form, but we all learned new ways the arts can be used to address specific challenges facing communities and produce positive outcomes for populations. We look forward to participating in the programs we helped to fund throughout the coming year.”
The Arts and Culture Giving Circle is one of five GCF Giving Circle opportunities this year, including Animal Welfare, Giving Black, Northern Kentucky and the NEXT Fund for young people. Giving Circles provide hands-on opportunities to like-minded people to pool their resources, explore together how to best support causes they care about and, as a group, decided how to allocate their combined resources. Giving Circles foster a deepened sense of ownership in the progress of our community, and participants often develop ongoing relationships — with each other and with their grantee organizations.
Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF), in partnership with the Cincinnati Enquirer, is pleased to announce the 2018 Women of the Year:
Judith Harmony is the first female faculty member of Indiana University’s chemistry department. She was instrumental in the development of The Women’s Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s first PULSE study in 2004. Harmony founded the Harmony Garden, an education center that strives to bring communities together to promote the health of young girls from underserved and disadvantaged communities.
Maria Ahmed Munir is the inaugural co-chair of the Festival of Faiths, a day of inclusion, education, understanding and building community. She established a scholarship fund at International Academy of Cincinnati for deserving students to get financial assistance. Munir was the first female PTO president at International Academy of Cincinnati and is a board member of the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati.
Nancy Eigel-Miller has dedicated her life to erasing the stigma of mental illness by founding 1N5, an organization that increases awareness and education about mental health. Through 1N5, she created the Brain Health Network as a braintrust around the successes and challenges of mental health programs. Eigel-Miller also created the first Youth Mental Health Innovation Challenge at the University of Cincinnati, a two-day workshop fostering a unique learning experience and professional development opportunity for high school students.
Kelly Dolan founded Thrive Impact Sourcing with the sole intent of bringing Cincinnati out of un/underemployment and into IT careers. Thrive is a business incubator dedicated to creating opportunity for diverse individuals to enter the IT industry, notorious for its lack of diversity. Dolan also founded Ingage Partners, Cincinnati’s first Certified B Corporation. She is an involved volunteer with Freeset USA, which sells clothes and bags made by women in India who were formerly working in the sex trade industry.
Mary Burke Rivers has been the executive director of Over the Rhine Community Housing since 1993, where she has excelled in creating and advocating for equitable access to housing for the past 25 years. She is a board member of The Finance Fund, Community Development Association of Greater Cincinnati, Affordable Housing Advocates, Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio.
Alandes Powell is the chair of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, where she has served as a board member and volunteer for eight years. She has been a board member of the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati since 2014 and was a YWCA Cincinnati Career Woman of Achievement recipient in 2013. Powell is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class 41 and Leadership Northern Kentucky. As Senior Vice President, Operations & Relationship Director of Citi Retail Services, she has also served as a mentor to colleagues and received the Citigroup Chairman’s Leadership Award in 2007. Powell is a board member of the Brighton Center and serves on the Elder Board of the Inspirational Baptist Church.
Mary Welsh Schlueter is the founr and CEO of Partnership for Innovation in Education, in partnership with Harvard University, which focuses on elevating student academic achievement, workforce readiness and experiential learning pathways in emerging careers. She is on the Harvard Business School Board of Directors (Ohio) and the Allegheny College, Alumni Board of Directors and teaching staff. Schlueter is an awardee of the Direct Energy Citizen of the Year, USA Chamber of Commerce WE Empowerment & New Business, Deloitte & Touche “100 Wise Women,” National Diversity Council Leadership Excellence, Venue Magazine Civic Leadership and STEM Difference Maker (Duke Energy).
Maureen France is a member of the West McMicken Improvement Association and was instrumental in re-opening the long-closed Warner Street steps leading to Fairview Park. She also has helped replace dilapidated playground equipment in the community. France was a key leader in the prevention of the destruction of part of her neighborhood during the reconstruction of I-75. She has used her photography, in collaboration with the Cincinnati Preservation Association and the Hillside Trust, to present ODOT and City Council with a book showing the vibrancy and closeness of her neighborhood.
Tillie Hidalgo Lima is a co-chair of the YMCA Academy of Career Women of Achievement. She was named Hispanic Woman of the Year in 2010 by the Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan in 2015 by the Ohio Commission on Hispanic-Latino Affairs and the Latino Empowerment Outreach Network. Her current board memberships include: United Way of Greater Cincinnati Board of Directors and Executive Committee, St. Elizabeth Healthcare Board of Trustees, Child Poverty Steering Committee and Cincinnati Women Executive Forum. Lima has been the CEO of Best Upon Request since 2003, where she co-created a groundbreaking new service, Maternity Concierge, to help new working mothers balance their quality of life.
Chandra Mathews-Smith is the chair of the Community Action Agency board. Dedicated to the improvement of the foster care system, she led the initiative to design the Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services Emergency Therapeutic Foster Care Program, which served as the emergency shelter provider for some of the county’s most difficult-to-serve children and adolescents. Mathews-Smith worked with Cincinnati Public Schools to institute their Ujima program, which provided wraparound and day treatment services for CPS students with the special education designation of Severely Behaviorally Handicapped.
The Women of the Year award is given to 10 women in the community who have dedicated their lives to giving back. This award is among the oldest and most significant honors one can receive in Greater Cincinnati.
“These exceptional women are the embodiment of dedication, community service and compassion for their fellow citizens,” said Ellen M. Katz, GCF President/CEO. “We look forward to sharing their inspirational stories, but even more so, we look forward to watching our community prosper due to their passion and drive.”
The honorees will be recognized at the 50th annual Women of the Year Awards Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Friday, October 26, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati. To purchase tickets to the luncheon or learn about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.gcfdn.org/woy.
March 2019
“Philanthropies that have come to recognize the roles of race and ethnicity are using research to become better informed about their role in social and economic disparities. These organizations are actively building into their lexicons and strategies an emphasis on historical inequality, racial equity and racial justice in their grantmaking, programs and services.” — Giving Black: Cincinnati report, December 2018
Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s (GCF) Giving Black: Cincinnati report, released in December in collaboration with New England Blacks in Philanthropy (NEBiP), provides a wealth of information into the largely unrecognized legacy of black philanthropy and current giving priorities of Cincinnati’s African American residents. It’s a data-rich document that resonates with insights that can amplify the significant gifts they bring to the funding table.
“Black philanthropy matters — it is a form of black leadership,” Bithiah Carter, NEBiP President, told attendees at the Giving Black: Cincinnati report release event. “Our children need to see us as philanthropists and leaders, and this report is proof that we are.” Giving Black: Cincinnati also celebrates the deep legacy of black stewardship in Cincinnati that dates back to the early 19th century. It’s a force that has driven civil rights, social justice and equity issues — often without noticeable recognition. That lack of acknowledgement, which Giving Black: Cincinnati seeks to dispel, persists today.
It prevails even among the 300 black respondents to the Giving Black surveys, interviews and focus groups. Across the board, they reported finding it difficult to see their charitable efforts as “philanthropy.” They also noted that they often weren’t included in the “ask” for mainstream philanthropic efforts.
While the respondents varied greatly in age, education and salary — from baby boomers to millennials, male and female, married and single, less than a high school education to PhDs, from under $80,000 in household income to more than $250,000 — their feedback identified philanthropy as the realm of wealthy white people. That’s despite the fact that, according to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, African American families give larger shares of their income, volunteer their time and donate other non-financial resources to charity more than any other racial or ethnic group.
The study found that a majority of black donors base their philanthropic decisions upon the value of “giving back to support the community.” That translates into an emphasis on Cornerstone and Kinship donor practices, defined as “general betterment of society” and “empowering the black community or a subset of the black community,” respectively.
Cornerstone donors are more likely to direct their giving to organizations that address needs of the black community such as education, the economy and social justice. Those themes resonate in Kinship giving practices as well; the perspective of Kinship donors is frequently driven by the belief that their personal outcomes are bound up with the broader fate of the black community.
Across gender and all income levels, black donors reported giving most heavily to churches/religious institutions (34 percent) and to family/friends in need (24 percent). That religious-based philanthropy comprises the third major donor practice, Sanctified giving, or “living out my faith.” Several Sanctified donors cited their giving to churches as result of first learning about the concept of giving from those institutions — a tendency retained regardless of their current church attendance.
Overall discretionary giving categories, after church/religious institution and family/friends in need, included educational institutions (11 percent), direct services agencies (11 percent), arts and culture organizations (7 percent), electoral campaigns (4 percent) and advocacy/policy research (3 percent).
According to the report, “black donors have the most confidence in nonprofit and affinity organizations that solve or remediate local, regional and national problems that grossly impact people of African descent.” Overall, they reported donating within the past 12 months to two civil rights organizations that have historically been cornerstones of the black community: the NAACP (29 percent) and the Urban League (30 percent).
In addition to financial support, 91 percent of the survey respondents reported giving of their time and talents to volunteer opportunities in the community, citing “making a difference” as their main motivation.
Check out the entire Giving Black: Cincinnati report here. For further information, please contact Robert Killins, Jr., GCF Director of Special Initiatives, at robert.killins@gcfdn.org.
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation believes progress in reducing racial disparities is critical to the community's future and that philanthropy can have a unique and important role to play. Since April 2001 when Cincinnati erupted in civic unrest, GCF has played an increasing leadership role advancing racial equity with a number of partner organizations that share our values. As we reach our 50th Anniversary, it is appropriate to look back at this important work.
In 1992, GCF provided start-up operating support to the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati’s African American Leadership Development Program (AALDP). A second grant in 2008 helped AALDP expand to support a fulltime director. The Foundation also provided funding in 2006-2008 to help launch the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati's Rising Star Board Leadership Program which emphasizes racial awareness and justice.
In 2008, Partners for a Competitive Workforce, the former Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network, was convened by GCF to help fill jobs that are in demand and help adults get the training they need to do these jobs. GCF has awarded grants of more than $600,000 to help close the employment gap in our region.
Soon after the 2001 civil unrest, Cincinnati's mayor announced plans to create the Cincinnati CAN commission to work on the underlying causes of racial disparities. GCF provided financial support and office space for CAN's operations, and committed $250,000 to help launch high-priority initiatives arising from CAN's community work.
In 2003, Better Together Cincinnati (BTC) was formed to help implement CAN's recommendations. With GCF's leadership and a commitment of $500,000, a group of local funders provided more than $7 million in grants over a period of eight years to key initiatives in police/community relations, education and jobs to achieve greater equity in our community. The collaboration and lessons learned through BTC continue through the work of the Community Police Partnering Center, Partners for a Competitive Workforce, The Strive Partnership, Place Matters and United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Success by 6®.
The Community Police Partnering Center (CPPC) grew out of the work of Cincinnati CAN. Through Better Together Cincinnati, GCF provided start-up and multi-year operating support for CPPC, and was part of the community team that tapped the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati as the permanent home for CPPC. In total, $2.25 million was invested by the BTC funders over more than a decade to improve police and community relations.
Since 2004, the Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) has helped more than 35 businesses more than double the size of their workforce. An initiative of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the MBA helps minority-owned businesses grow strategically and access supply chain opportunities. A start-up grant from Better Together Cincinnati got the MBA up and running for its first three years of operations. In 2012, GCF provided additional grants and a loan to help launch The L. Ross Love GrowthBridge Fund which will provide "patient" capital to grow MBA portfolio businesses and jobs.
"The leadership role played by GCF in the 2001 civil unrest helped to calm the community and to bring about positive change embracing and celebrating our differences as well as our shared dreams for this great place we all call home."
-Karen Hoeb GCF's former President/CEO
Published in The Greater Cincinnati Foundation's 2012 Annual Report