Happy Community Foundation Week!
We’re celebrating the impact of our foundation and hundreds of other community foundations across the country that are empowering positive social change in neighborhoods, counties, and states.
We’re proud to be a member and supporter of the Wisconsin Philanthropy Network (WPN), which supports and promotes effective philanthropy in our state.
Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the important work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative and innovative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sector. Annually, Community Foundation Week coincides with National Philanthropy Day on November 15.Last week, five of our team members attended the Network’s Statewide Conference on Philanthropy in Milwaukee, focused on connecting, deep learning and creative thinking together with colleagues committed to what’s possible in our local work and collaborative partnerships to make progress on pressing issues impacting communities statewide.
Here are some photos capturing the spirit of the event. Thank you, WPN and the planning team for providing an energizing, inspiring conference!
Wisconsin Philanthropy Network President/CEO Tony Shields welcomes representatives from 115 different foundations, organizations, coalitions and nonprofits at the Statewide Conference on Philanthropy Nov. 8-9 in Milwaukee.
Our Community Engagement Manager Carolyn Desrosiers spoke on a panel “Community-Driven Philanthropy” focused on ways funders can elevate the voice and power of community in grantmaking practices.
Our team! Mito Kudaka, Strategic Initiatives Director: Jenny Krikava, Community Engagement Manager; Carolyn Desrosiers, Community Engagement Manager; Curt Detjen, President & CEO; Tammy Geenen, Vice President of Community Engagement
Our President and CEO and former WPN board member, Curt Detjen, pictured (back row, third from left) with community foundation CEOs from around Wisconsin and Tony Shields, President and CEO with Wisconsin Philanthropy Network.
Sheri Johnson, Director of Population Health Institute, Principal Investigator of County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, Professor of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, talked about health equity in philanthropic work.
During the “Identifying Root Causes” workshop, Ugwuji N. Maduekwe, Associate Professor and Director of Regional Therapies, Division of Surgical Oncology, Dept. of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, talked about advancing health equity in the state, mentioning a Fox Valley project aimed at growing rural health equity.
Pre-conference learning session “Advocacy & Grantmaking for Long Term Change.”
Brenda Solorzano, CEO of Headwaters Foundation, presented “Measuring Impact with Trust Based Philanthropy” and also delivered a keynote presentation. Brenda started the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, a five-year initiative (through 2024) that provides funders and grantmaking practitioners with tools, frameworks and community spaces to deepen their work of creating a more equitable and impactful philanthropic sector.
Melissa Auchard Scholz, Founder and Principal Attorney, Scholz Nonprofit Law, offered an advocacy primer for session participants.
Want to know more about us and the work your Community Foundation is doing to impact lives and help our Fox Valley region flourish?
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