This spring, The Community Foundation partnered with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy to discuss their recent report, 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2025, at our Donors Forum programs for regional grantmakers. In this episode, we invited our guests to share their insights with Wanda Willis, Vice President of Civic Leadership. The conve…

Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.orgBy The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

Over the past nine years, The Community Foundation has made over $1.6 million in grants to foster inclusive prosperity across Jacksonville as part of our key leadership initiative, Supporting Neighborhoods. One of the stand-out areas of investment has been a body of work we call “heirs property,” led by local nonprofit partners including the Local …

Isaiah Oliver talks with Marsha Hatcher about her work, how she's helping emerging artists in Jacksonville, and what it means for her to be selected for the Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award. Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.orgBy The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

The term “urban forest” may sound like an oxymoron. But the newest episode of our podcast, Forever Forward, offers insights into why it’s an aspiration rather than a contradiction. In this episode, Isaiah Oliver sat down with Anne Coglianese, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Jacksonville, and Valerie Feinberg, Executive FUSE Fellow, to lear…

In this episode of Forever Forward, community stewards Gregory Owens and Cleve Warren sat down with TCF’s Vice President of Civic Leadership, Wanda Willis, to discuss the Eartha M.M. White Legacy Fund. The endowed fund has made more than $1.3M in grants since it was created by the sale of Eartha M.M. White’s nursing home, and is celebrating its 20t…

Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.orgBy The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

John Inazu is the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion at Washington University in St Louis. His latest book is “Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect.” Inazu spoke at Donors Forum in September, and continued the conversation with Wanda Willis, VP of Civic Leadership. L…

August is Black Philanthropy Month, a time to celebrate the ways that Black communities give their time, talent, and treasure. Dr. Gail Christopher is a past Senior Advisor and Vice President of the WK Kellogg Foundation -- and she's also a friend and mentor to Isaiah Oliver, TCF President. Dr. Christopher visited Jacksonville to speak at our Augus…

In our first episode of Season 2, TCF President Isaiah M. Oliver sits down with TCF Board Chair Michael DuBow to reflect on his inaugural year as President of The Community Foundation. In July 2023, Isaiah moved with his wife and four children to Jacksonville to become the third president of The Community Foundation. Over the past year, he has tire…

TCF President Isaiah M. Oliver led a conversation former Presidents Nina Waters and Andy Bell to talk about the past, present and future of The Community Foundation during a celebration of our 60th anniversary. Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.orgBy The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

In the last episode of our first season, Nina Waters sits down with Isaiah M. Oliver, the new president of The Community Foundation. Isaiah tells the story of his journey to Jacksonville -- how he came into community leadership in Flint, MI, how he fell in love with the work of community foundations, and why he and his family decided to make Northe…

Nancy and Gary Chartrand are well-known names in our community. Their philanthropy has made a positive impact on many important nonprofits in our area. But not everyone knows their whole story. In Episode 8 of our podcast series, which looks back on our work as we approach our 60th anniversary next year, I sit down with Nancy and Gary to talk about…

Cindy Edelman is a dear friend, a former chair of our board of trustees, and a champion for public education. I’ve been privileged to work with Cindy for more than two decades in my role as president of The Community Foundation. Cindy was a visionary leader in the 10-year Quality Education for All Initiative, and she has never wavered in her suppor…

Michael Meyers is an attorney, a trustee of The Community Foundation, and the first president of the LGBTQ community Fund for Northeast Florida. He grew up in Jacksonville, and lived for many years in New York City. Lucky for us, he came back, and quickly committed to improving the community he and his family call now home. In this conversation, we…

Sherry Magill has been a mentor to me and a partner in crisis for more than two decades. She led the Jessie Ball duPont Fund as President during much of my time here at The Community Foundation. She had the incredible vision to rescue and renovate the state-of-the-art building where we recorded this podcast series -- the Jessie Ball duPont Center. …

I met Rachael Tutwiler Fortune about 13 years ago. Back then, Rachael had just left the classroom to take a role at the nascent Jacksonville Public Education Fund. The Community Foundation helped found JPEF as an independent think-and-do tank that works to pilot and scale new approaches to improving the quality of education in Duval County. In Epis…

Kathleen Shaw and I go way back. She and I started our nonprofit careers together at the PACE Center for Girls. We were working moms together, juggling the multiple responsibilities of parenting and careers, and we have now spent two decades together making grants to nonprofits here in Northeast Florida. In Episode 3 of the Giving Forward podcast, …

When Bill Scheu was awarded our Prize for Civic Engagement, the selection committee described him as a “Civic Superman.” Bill is one of just two people we have honored with the Prize. A partner at Rogers Towers, Bill has been a trusted mediator on many issues in our community, from pension reform to election integrity. He’s also been a leader in ou…

In this episode, Nina Waters, President of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, looks back on more than 30 years of community work with Judge Brian J. Davis, a federal judge and chair of The Community Foundation's Board of Trustees, including: Their early years in Jacksonville – including what it was like to grow up in segregated Jackson…

Nina Waters, President of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, takes you behind the scenes on some of our community's biggest issues -- food security, public education reform, and disaster relief -- talking with some of our community's most prominent leaders and telling the real stories of how philanthropists and nonprofits have shaped o…