Arizona

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona has announced the addition of Meg Sheehan and Monique Conway to its staff. Sheehan will serve as associate gift officer and director of the LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund. Conway is the foundation’s new digital marketing and communications manager.

California

The San Diego Foundation has announced that it raised $550,000 in flood response gifts and has awarded $120,000 to date to nonprofits assisting flood-impacted residents. Recipients include the Jackie Robinson YMCA, San Diego County Black Chamber of Commerce, Harvey Family Foundation, and Sharia’s Closet.

The Sacramento Region Community Foundation has announced the election of Kwame Anku and Gordon Fowler to its board of directors. Anku is the founding managing partner and chief investment officer of the Black Star Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund. Fowler is founder and senior partner of 3fold Communications.

Florida

The Orlando-based Central Florida Foundation has announced microgrants through its TableTalk initiative to fund ideas that were sparked during TableTalk conversations last October. The microgrants are part of a continued effort to embrace productive conversation across the community and fuel innovative ideas. Recipients include Muslim Women’s Organization, Gliding Stars of Central Florida, Runway to Hope, and the Modern Widows Club.

The Gulf Coast Community Foundation in Venice has announced a grant of $50,000 to support the installion of shade structures at the Englewood Sports Complex. The partnership between the foundation and the Sarasota County Government will enable the installation of canopies and other shade structures at the 136-acre sports complex, specifically for four youth baseball fields and two youth softball fields that currently do not have them.

Louisiana

The Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) has announced that its 2023 cohort of Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans concluded the program in December with the presentation of grants totaling $33,000 to five area nonprofits. Each year, EPNO cohorts are divided into smaller groups—or impact teams—to focus on building upon participants’ existing skills and knowledge base in nonprofit mission areas. The 2023 grantees are Central City Community Outreach, The COOL Cooperative, Hagar’s House, Make Music NOLA, and Wake. Established in 2011, EPNO became a GNOF program in March 2023.

Massachusetts

The Boston Foundation (TBF) has announced that Naila Bolus, an experienced nonprofit leader and former CEO of Jumpstart, is joining TBF in the newly created role of deputy vice president and director of the Campaign for a Greater Boston. During Bolus’s tenure, Jumpstart significantly expanded its scale and impact, increasing the number of children served annually by 68 percent, revising its curriculum to improve academic and social-emotional outcomes for children, and developing new programming and policies to increase the number of high-quality early educators and promote equitable early education opportunities. Prior to Jumpstart, she served as executive director of Ploughshares Fund, the largest grantmaking foundation in the United States dedicated exclusively to peace and security funding.

Mississippi

The Community Foundation for Mississippi has announced the launch of the WellsFest CARES Fund, which aims to give back to local musicians and create more programming in the spirit of the annual WellsFest music festival. In addition, representatives of the festival also created the WellsFest CARES Endowment Fund to support musicians long-term.

Pennsylvania

The Erie Community Foundation has announced the appointment of Erie Insurance President and CEO Tim NeCastro to its board of trustees. NeCastro will serve a three-year term, renewable for up to nine years.

Wisconsin

The Eau Claire Community Foundation has announced that its Market & Johnson (M&J) Employee Impact Fund distributed $70,800 in grants to 18 nonprofits across the company’s service area. M&J employees pool their contributions to support organizations in the communities where they live and work, and the company matches 50 percent of employee contributions. The latest recipients include Bolton Refuge House, Drug Endangered Children, Joshua’s Camp, and River Valley Charities.