u | issue 3 2015

UpdateKalamazoo Community FoundationIssue 3 2015U

Equity: Engaging people, increasing capacity, removing barriersWE SEE EQUITY AS NOT ONLY A TOP STRATEGIC PRIORITY, BUT ALSO AS A CORE VALUE

AND FRAMEWORK FOR ALL OF OUR WORK [PAGE 4]

Susan SpringgateVice President, Finance & Administration

2 KALAMAZOO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ISSUE 3 2015

These are busy times here at your Community Foundation.

This spring the Finance & Administration team focused on the annual financial statement audit, which received an unqualified opinion — the highest opinion given by auditors. Currently the leadership team is analyzing the results of the second study of our revenues and costs. We want to ensure our operations and funding mechanisms are operating at the highest efficiency and that the business model is in alignment with our strategy.

If you’ve seen our 2014 Annual Report, you know that a national survey by Council on Foundations found that our seven-year investment return ranked first among all community foundations. We are diligent in our care of funds entrusted here, striving to provide maximum grantmaking and community leadership investments while preserving the original purchasing value of gifts. We are committed to an investment strategy of disciplined asset allocation, regular rebalancing, minimizing fees and expenses, and not reacting to near-term market pressures or new investment fads.

Leveraging the ever-lasting power of endowed funds — especially unrestricted gifts — provides your Community Foundation with the means to do critical work in the community, such as equity, which you’ll be reading about in this issue.

The journey to equity is long, but it is rewarding to know the work we are doing — with many community partners — will break down the barriers that prevent all of our neighbors from accessing the opportunities that have traditionally only been available to some. I feel privileged to work for an organization with equity as a key goal.

Love where you live.

( 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.

We’d love to know what you think of this publication. Share your feedback at www.kalfound.org/feedback.

ISSUE 3 2015 KALFOUND.ORG 3

It should be no surprise to anyone

that gender inequality is a pervasive

and systemic problem around the

world. Right here in the United

States, women lack an equitable

place at the table in just about

every major political, social and

economic institution. Specifically,

the gap in women in electoral

politics is ubiquitous even though

women have been outvoting men

since the 1980s. For example,

women comprise approximately

20 percent of the seats in Congress

and less than 25 percent of the

seats in the State Legislatures

and statewide elected executive

offices. Historically our society has

discouraged women from getting

involved in electoral politics. We

must continue to alter this mindset

and encourage women to run for

political office at every level.

Tracy HallWestern Michigan University

Gender & Women’s Studies and Political Science

Michigan holds a special place in

my heart as it received me with

open arms when I was a newcomer.

Michiganders welcomed me in

many ways: they loaned me their

cars to do groceries, they invited

me home for Thanksgiving, and

they connected me to jobs. These

acts of kindness set me up for

success. Today, I promote the same

values in my community-building

work around immigrant integration.

I believe it is imperative to build

and support strong, secure and

successful places to live. We must

work together and leverage the

full potential of all who live

here, so that we may improve

the livelihoods of all our

neighbors, including the 12,175

foreign-born residents of this

community. Extending a hand can

benefit us all. Together. It’s better.

Jonathan RomeroMichigan Immigrants Rights Center

and Welcoming Michigan

We have more work to do when it

comes to equality for lesbian, gay,

bisexual, transgender and queer

individuals and families. When

40 percent of homeless youth

are LGBTQ, we must do more.

When transwomen are being

criminalized and murdered, we

must do more. When it is still legal

in Michigan to fire or refuse housing

to someone because they are

LGBTQ, we must do more. When

safe health care is not accessible

to LGBTQ people we must do

more. Until we acknowledge the

intersections between racial justice,

immigrant justice, economic justice,

reproductive justice and LGBTQ

justice, we cannot do more. It’s

time for us, as a community to do

more by acknowledging how our

individual causes are tied. We are

stronger in action together.

Jay MaddockKalamazoo Gay Lesbian

Resource Center

Equity for allThe Kalamazoo Community Foundation envisions a community where

every person can reach full potential. This can’t happen unless all people have equitable opportunities to live positive lives. Here, in their own words, are the personal perspectives of three partners working towards equity for people in Kalamazoo County.

equityequality

Equity: Engaging people, increasing capacity, removing barriersLately it seems as though reports

highlighting disparities in infant

mortality rates, high school graduation

rates, health care access, employment

rates are surfacing with increasing

frequency. It can be easy to “sleep

through the static,” until we consider

that the numbers in these reports

are actually people.

These reports don’t just present

information; they tell stories — stories

about children, their parents, our

community. When we value these

reports for the stories they tell and not

just the numbers they present, we can

better understand that unless we are

all doing better, our community will

not truly succeed. Until we remove the

barriers some encounter, Kalamazoo

County cannot be a community where

every person can reach full potential.

Over the last few years, we’ve

learned that expanding the diversity

of the voices we hear can greatly

improve how we understand and

address community issues. So we’ve

become more intentional about

engaging the community, and strive

to incorporate diverse perspectives

as “standard operating procedure.”

As a demonstration of this, our first

step in planning our 2015 Community


We cannot be the community we believe we are, until racism, homophobia, sexism and discrimination of all kinds is not a part of anyone’s daily life.

2015 Community Meeting8 p.m. on Nov. 3 | Miller Auditorium

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Special thanks to our lead sponsor:


Meeting was to ask our community

partners to share their suggestions

for speakers who could provide a

thought-provoking message that

would help us all better understand

the concept of equity. As a result,

the November event will feature

best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates,

who will speak about race in America.

[Sponsored by PNC Bank, Coates’

talk is also part of a University

Center for the Humanities at

WMU’s 2015/2016 speaker series:

Reimagining Communities.]

Input from the community also

informed the identification of our

strategic priorities: equity and

education. We are committed to

improving educational outcomes

and removing the barriers that

prevent all people from reaching

full potential. As we engage in this

work, understanding equity becomes

critical. Says President/CEO Carrie

Pickett-Erway, “As an organization,

we recognized early on that to be

effective at increasing equity and

reducing disparities, we would have

to address the gaps in our own

awareness, knowledge and capacity.”

“While we’ve been working hard on

this for several years, we know our

learned experience is inadequate

and incomplete compared to the

lived experience of people who

are the targets of discrimination,”

she says. “So working with the

community and not just for the

community is essential.”

Many community partners —

individuals, organizations and

consultants — have already begun

to help us shape a strategy for

impacting equity in Kalamazoo

County. We are currently conducting

a scan of equity work going on in

the county.

“By better understanding what

assets and resources — human

and financial — we have, we will

be able to determine where we

have the greatest opportunity to

leverage our support and offer

leadership.” says Pickett-Erway.

“We hope to identify the gaps that

are not being addressed, identify

how we might help those that are

already doing great work, and

elevate our collective efforts to

transform our community.”

At the same time, we also continue

to examine our internal policies

and practices. We need to ensure

that every aspect of our daily work

— in every functional area and at

every level — fully reflects our core

values: diversity, equity and inclusion;

integrity; and excellence.

We know the people who live,

work and raise their families in

Kalamazoo County passionately

believe it is a special place where

amazing things happen. We

believe this passion can provide

the momentum our community

needs to eliminate the social,

legal, economic and other barriers

that prevent every person from

reaching full potential and living

positive lives.

We envision a community where every person can reach full potential, and that can’t happen unless all people have equitable opportunities to live positive lives. At our 2015 Community Meeting, Ta-Nehisi Coates will talk with us about race in America.

Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics and social issues. He is the author of The Beautiful Struggle and Between the World and Me. Written as a letter to

his 15-year-old son, Between the World and Me discusses America’s history of racial violence, and explores what it is like to be black in this country. He 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. He received the George Polk Award for Commentary in 2014.

Register for free by calling 269.381.4416 or visiting www.kalfound.org/2015CM.


12 GRANTS AWARDED FROM STRATEGIC, FLEXIBLE RESOURCES

Recent grant highlights

We awarded 12 grants totaling nearly $1.2 million

to Kalamazoo County nonprofits in our most recent

grantmaking round.

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:

• Crescendo Academy of Music

• Community Healing Centers, Inc.

• Comstock Community Center

• Douglass Community Association

• Kalamazoo County Land Bank / Vibrant Kalamazoo

• Kalamazoo County Ready 4s

• Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes

• Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

• United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region

• Volunteer Kalamazoo

• YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo (two grants)

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 PerformanceSECOND QUARTER 2015

Core Assets Qtr 2 YTD 3 Yrs 5 Yrs 7 Yrs

Moderate Growth Performance

Actual

Benchmark

0.3%

0.2%

1.9%

1.4%

12.4%

10.7%

12.1%

11.0%

8.5%

7.3%

Income and Growth Performance

Actual

Benchmark

-0.6%

-0.7%

1.0%

0.7%

9.9%

9.4%

10.6%

10.4%

8.6%

7.4%

Learn more about our grantmaking online at www.kalfound.org/grants.8

Mary Spradling died in 2009.

Mary loved Kalamazoo. She was Kalamazoo Public Library’s

first black professional librarian and was instrumental in

initiating the city’s official recognition of Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr.’s legacy. Her own legacy is a collection of 2,800

books, magazines and record albums highlighting the

history, experiences and contributions of African Americans

that she donated to Kalamazoo Valley Community College

in 1998. A Community Foundation fund created in her

honor by friends maintains and enhances the collection.

We can help you show your love for Kalamazoo and leave a legacy too. Contact a member of our Donor Relations team or visit www.kalfound.org to learn how.

Today she’s teaching people about the history, experiences and contributions of African Americans.

Our Team 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]


Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. PostagepaidKalamazoo, MI Permit Number 66

402 East Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3888

269.381.4416 www.kalfound.org

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

Then In 1925, a committee of five community leaders — Alfred Connable, Elias Hoekstra, Edward Desenberg, Harold Upjohn (pictured top left) and William Lawrence Sr. — guided the activities of the Community Foundation. Early lead administrators performed their tasks as additional duties to regular jobs and had the title of secretary, beginning with Earl Weber, who served for nearly three decades. There would be acting secretaries such as Richard Light, Harold Allen and Merrill Taylor, until Howard Kalleward became Executive Secretary in 1967 and led the organization for two decades. In the 1990s, following Kalleward, our leaders became known as President/CEO and include: Dr. Jack Hopkins, Dr. Juan Olivarez and Don VanderKooy (as Interim President/CEO).

Now Carrie Pickett-Erway, pictured below left, is our President/CEO (the first woman to serve in this role) and we are governed by a seven-member board of trustees: Si Johnson, chairperson; Frank Sardone, vice chairperson; Jim Escamilla; Barbara James; Amy Upjohn; Hon. Carolyn Williams; and Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. Our trustees represent diverse community interests and, as trustees have since 1925, donate their time, energy and expertise to help us identify opportunities for long-term community impact, respond appropriately when unforeseen challenges arise, and address community needs.

1925 2015

On the CoverTo help us and the community get ready for our 2015 Community Meeting on November 3, we’re working with a variety of community partners who are advancing equity in Kalamazoo County. Pictured with President/CEO Carrie Pickett Erway (second from left) are (from left to right) Donna Odom, SHARE; Jacob Pinney-Johnson, SHARE; Rev. Dr. B. Jo Ann Mundy, ERACCE; Chéree Thomas, SHARE and Douglass Community Association; Lillie Wolff, ERACCE; and Fernando Ospina, ERACCE.

Photo by Jacqueline Luttrell

u | issue 3 2015

Documents