U | Issue 2 2015

Update / Kalamazoo Community Foundation / Issue 2 2015

UEducation:Investing in the future OUR BIG 3 GOALS — EDUCATION, EQUITY AND ENGAGEMENT — ARE INTERCONNECTED AND EQUALLY IMPORTANT, BUT EDUCATION IS VIEWED AS THE PATH TO GROWTH AND PROSPERITY [PAGE 4]

On the verge of dropping out of high school after just a year, Jeremiah Mansfield seized hold of an opportunity to change his life. Thanks to the support of coaches, teachers, guidance counselors and The Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo’s College and Career Access Network, he graduated from Gull Lake High School in 2014 and went on to attend Spring Arbor University.

Photo by Erik Holladay

Suprotik Stotz-Ghosh Vice President, Community Investment

2 KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ISSUE 2 2015

To ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. That was the purpose of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on April 11, 1965.

I recently read about the ESEA because I wanted to learn the origins of “Title funding.” As I read, I was struck by how similar the language of the original legislation is to the language we still use today, now 50 years later. The persistence and increased complexity of the challenges we face to provide a “fair, equal, and significant” education to all helps explain why the Kalamazoo Community Foundation is so heavily invested in The Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo.

We view The Learning Network as our community’s best strategy to provide a fair and equal education for all. The Community Foundation’s five year investment in The Learning Network is bringing educators together in partnership with nonprofit and other community partners to build the capacity necessary to address community-level outcomes such as college readiness.

We continue to invest in The Learning Network because, through collaboration between schools and the community, we may be able to fully realize the potential of the ESEA, and in so doing, achieve our vision of a community where every person can reach full potential.

( 269.381.4416

8 www.kalfound.org

facebook.com/kalfound

pinterest.com/kalfound

linkedin.com/company/kalfound

instagram.com/kalfound

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.

ISSUE 2 2015 KALFOUND.ORG 3

Ta-Nehisi Coates will be keynote speaker at 2015 Community Meeting

Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of

“The Beautiful Struggle” and a

national correspondent for

The Atlantic, will be the keynote

speaker for our 2015 Community

Meeting. The event, which will be

free and open to the public,

is scheduled for November 3 at

Miller Auditorium on the campus of

Western Michigan University.

“The Beautiful Struggle” is Coates’

memoir about growing up in

Baltimore. His next book,

“Between the World and Me,” is

scheduled to be released in the fall.

Considered one of the most

original and perceptive African

American voices of our time,

Coates has written on how pop

culture, politics and history shape

discussions of equity, diversity and

inclusion. His articles have covered

a history of racism in America, the

case for reparations, generational

and ideological rifts in the black

community, the meaning of black

culture, and the role of both older

and younger generations in shaping

that culture.

The New Yorker says he “is one of the

most elegant and sharp observers of

race in America. He is an upholder

of universal values, a brave and

compassionate writer who

challenges his readers to transcend

narrow self-definitions and focus

on shared humanity.”

Coates, whose Atlantic blog was

named as one of the best 25 in

the world by Time magazine, 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. His writing for

The Atlantic covers culture, politics

and social issues. He received the

Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis

Journalism in 2012 and the George

Polk Award for Commentary in 2014.

Before joining The Atlantic, he wrote

for The Village Voice and was a

contributor to Time, O and

The New York Times.

For the 13th time, PNC Bank is the

lead sponsor for the event, which

will be a highlight of the University

Center for the Humanities at

WMU’s 2015-2016 Speaker Series:

Reimagining Communities. We also

are partnering with other people and

organizations to maximize the impact

of Coates’ visit to our community.

Registration for the 2015

Community Meeting is open now

at surveymonkey.com/s/kzcf15.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

AUTHOR OF “THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE” TO SPEAK ABOUT RACIAL EQUITY AT THE NOVEMBER 3 EVENT

Education: Investing in the future When Kalamazoo Community

Foundation President/CEO Carrie

Pickett-Erway and our team talk

about education, we think Big Picture.

Education is one of the Community

Foundation’s Big 3 Goals, along with

equity and engagement. The three

goals are interconnected and

equally important, but education

is viewed as the path to future

growth and prosperity.

With education as one of our major

goals, the Community Foundation

has continued to invest in existing

partnerships with local nonprofits.

For example, last year we gave a

$161,783 grant to the Kalamazoo

Center for Youth and Community,

which serves students in the Eastside

and Eastwood neighborhoods.

But the Community Foundation’s main

education efforts are our decades-old

scholarship program and The Learning

Network of Greater Kalamazoo, which

we helped create in 2011.

“Each year our scholarship program

helps hundreds of students in

Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties

continue their education after high

school,” says Pickett-Erway. “And

The Learning Network is a powerful

demonstration of our commitment

to collaboration that can generate

community-level outcomes.”

The Learning Network

Housed at the Community Foundation

and supported by the Community

Foundation with financial and other

resources, The Learning Network was

established by community leaders who

recognized the importance of lifetime

learning. Central to its mission is a

philosophy that education and learning

are keys to community prosperity as


Anthony Everson (pictured above) left school after the 10th grade. As an adult, he wanted to improve his reading and writing to get a high school equivalency diploma. Thanks to The Learning Network and adult literacy classes through the Kalamazoo Literacy Council, in just one year Anthony was halfway to his goal. The experience helped him get a job at Goodwill Industries.

Photo by Erik Holladay

You have to have an education to live in

this society...If you’re motivated to do that,

there is help right here. Anthony Everson

}

}

Changing lives with education Through its scholarship program, the

Community Foundation has been

helping change lives with education for

more than 60 years. The earliest fund,

the S. Rudolph Light Medical Education

Scholarship, was established in 1954.

Now, according to Scholarship Manager

Nancy Timmons, the Community

Foundation administers 53 Scholarship

Funds that in 2014 provided local

students with more that $1.1 million

in scholarships.

“Each of our scholarships is unique

and has its own purpose and eligibility

criteria,” Timmons explains. “And our

website has become the area’s central

access point for information about

scholarships sponsored by school

districts and other local organizations.

“Ultimately, our scholarship program is

all about people,” she concludes. “It’s

about individuals who are able to attend

college and whose lives are changed by

the generosity of donors.”


well as individual success. Today it is

led by a council of leaders from local

institutions representing business,

healthcare, law enforcement,

education and social services.

Pickett-Erway serves as its chair.

“In today’s economy, when it comes

to finding a good job that will

support an individual, enable him

or her to provide for a family and

begin to build wealth, we know that

education beyond high school is

critical,” says Amy Slancik, director of

The Learning Network. “But it’s not

enough to tell someone they need to

continue their education. We have to

help them succeed.”

The Learning Network was inspired

by the Kalamazoo Promise, but is

not a scholarship program. Rather, it

is a dynamic, growing collaboration

of individuals and organizations

embracing a vision that every person

in Kalamazoo County will be ready for

school, post-secondary education and

the world. To achieve this ambitious

goal, The Learning Network knits

together aligned local resources

to offer wrap-around support for

students from cradle to career.

Since its inception, accountability and

transparency have been core values

of The Learning Network. It supports

these through a public scorecard that

makes milestones in education easily

identifiable and understandable by all

stakeholders: parents, practitioners,

educators, evaluators and others.

The result of evidence-based

research, the scorecard shows

performance data that measure how

well Kalamazoo County is meeting

broad educational goals. This focus

on measurement helps ensure The

Learning Network generates results,

not just effort.

The Learning Network also is part

of a national alliance of communities

doing similar work, which enables

it to draw from best practices

— and share its own — with

organizations in more than 60

communities nationwide.

Says Pickett-Erway, “If we have

more educated residents earning

a wage, paying taxes, taking care of

their families, and giving back with

their volunteer time and resources,

everyone in this community has

greater quality of life.”

Our Big 3 Goals

Education

We want to help provide a path to prosperity for everyone by supporting cradle to career initiatives.

2.Engagement

We are aligning resources for transformative change by collaborating with county-wide partners.

3.Equity

We are partnering with others to remove barriers to opportunity and full potential by increasing capacity for awareness and action.

1.


20 GRANTS AWARDED FROM UNRESTRICTED RESOURCES

First quarter grant highlights

The Community Foundation awarded 20 grants totaling

$2.4 million to Kalamazoo County nonprofits from its

unrestricted resources in the first quarter of 2015.

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:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo

• Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo

• Family & Children Services

• Friendship House

• Girls on the Run

• Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan

• Guardian Finance and Advocacy Services

• ISAAC

• Kalamazoo Civic Theatre

• Kalamazoo Collective Housing

• Kalamazoo County 9th District Court Youthful

Offender Transition Program

• Kalamazoo County Ready 4s

• Kalamazoo Nature Center

• Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services

• Kalamazoo Valley Community College

• Open Roads Bike Program

• Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan

• Pretty Lake Vacation Camp

• Residential Opportunities, Inc.

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 PerformanceFIRST QUARTER 2015

Core Assets Qtr 1 YTD 3 Yrs 5 Yrs 7 Yrs

Moderate Growth Performance

Actual

Benchmark

1.6%

1.2%

1.6%

1.2%

11.1%

9.9%

10.6%

9.8%

8.0%

7.2%

Income and Growth Performance

Actual

Benchmark

1.6%

1.4%

1.6%

1.4%

10.1%

9.6%

10.3%

9.6%

8.3%

7.2%

Deed Shepherd died in 2005.

Deed herself was a joyful, confident woman

who loved where she lived: Kalamazoo.

She also loved Kalamazoo’s young people.

Their zest for life only added to her

own. Thanks to a bequest she left to the

Community Foundation, thousands of

Kalamazoo County girls who participate in

Girls on the Run learn how to embrace who

they are, define who they want to be, rise to

any challenge, and change the world.

We can help you leave a legacy too.

Contact our Donor Relations team to

learn how.

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]

Today she’s helping Kalamazoo area girls lead joyful, confident lives.


Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. PostagepaidKalamazoo, MI Permit Number 66

402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888

269.381.4416 www.kalfound.org

ShareWe’d love to know what you think of this publication. To share your feedback, fill out our online survey at surveymonkey.com/s/updatekzcf.

KZCF: Then and NowA few things have changed since the Community Foundation was born in 1925.

Then

For much of our 90 year history, while our work was visible and accessible

throughout the community, our office was practically invisible. From 1925

until 1973 we were tucked away at The Upjohn Company — the company

co-founded by brothers Henry and W.E. Upjohn, who provided us with our very

first gift. Then, until September 2014, we were ensconced on the third floor of

the Comerica Building on South Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo.

Now We have a visible, accessible, permanent home at 402 East Michigan Avenue,

on the edge of Kalamazoo’s Edison neighborhood. When the Arcus Foundation

provided us with the transformative gift of this building, we partnered with experts

in workplace innovation to design a space that enhances our work. We wanted

a welcoming space that inspires collaboration amongst our team and with the

community. We have several meeting spaces that nonprofit organizations and

other partners are welcome to use, at no cost to them.

1925 2015

U | Issue 2 2015

Documents