Our Impact

Strategic Initiatives

Realizing that responsive grant funding alone cannot address our community’s complex challenges, our Strategic Initiatives focus on one common goal — to make a demonstrable impact on our community.

The Early Childhood Alliance is a collaboration that promotes a holistic approach to addressing the general needs of children in Onondaga County. We provide grant, management and facilitation support to the ECA.

The Human Services Leadership Council is comprised of human service agencies working together to identify opportunities and respond to basic human needs.
We provide grant, management and facilitation support to HSLC.

Our LeadSafeCNY initiative is a multiyear commitment to help decrease the region’s alarming childhood lead poisoning rates through funding, impact investing, collaboration and improved public policy. This year we distributed eight grants totaling $290,000 to support lead-free housing construction, existing home renovations, community outreach, and training and workforce development. So far, 1,415 windows and 148 doors have been replaced to eliminate lead-dust-producing high-friction surfaces in rental units. In addition, 195 safe and affordable rental units have been constructed or renovated in target neighborhoods. leadsafecny.org

We provide funding, management and research support to programs in Onondaga, Madison and Cortland counties that address the issue of literacy across all ages.

Say Yes Syracuse provides opportunities and scholarships to remove financial barriers for Syracuse City School District students to attend college. Say Yes Syracuse is independently governed and administered by the Community Foundation. A total of 5,833 scholars have attended college with the help of Say Yes since 2009. sayyessyracuse.org

Local community groups provide career pathways to low-income individuals while fulfilling staffing needs of local employers through Work Train. We provide funding for this program.

PROFESSIONAL & ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Community Foundation has for many decades been a leading sponsor of initiatives to strengthen our region’s nonprofit sector.

BoardSTRONG connects talented Central New York individuals with nonprofit board opportunities and provides online resources for nonprofit board members and leaders. We provide funding for this program. boardstrong.org

LeadUP CNY is a professional and personal development program for the next generation of nonprofit leaders. Forty-nine participants have graduated since the program’s inception. cnycf.org/leadup

The Marsellus Executive Development Program is an individualized leadership development opportunity for executive directors of organizations within Onondaga or Madison counties. Thirty-four individuals have graduated since the program’s inception. cnycf.org/executive

NEWS/Nonprofit Essentials Workshop Series is an ongoing training series designed for nonprofit professionals to gain knowledge on a variety of tools for professional and organizational development. This year, more than 120 attendees from 88 organizations participated in virtual workshops. cnycf.org/workshop

Nourishing Tomorrow’s Leaders is an eight-week training program focused on increasing the pool of diverse nonprofit board members in our community. We assist with program development, funding and implementation.

Our Staff Advancement Initiative is a development and advancement program for non-management or entry-level management nonprofit staff members. This year, 25 participants received a total of $15,300 for professional development. cnycf.org/staffadvance

The Leadership Classroom (TLC) helps residents or grassroots groups to learn practical skills that make stronger, more effective neighborhood and grassroots leaders. This year, 28 individuals representing five organizations graduated from TLC. cnycf.org/tlc

COMMUNITY RESOURCE & KNOWLEDGE

Building on our commitment to collecting and analyzing local data as well as the experience we have accumulated over more than 95 years of service to our region, we serve as a resource to residents seeking insights on social and community issues.

5forCNY educates individuals on how they can play a vital role in enriching the future of the Central New York community through legacy giving. 5forcny.org

The Community Data Group is comprised of nonprofit and government sector members who gather to share ideas and data and coordinate efforts to help our community improve more effectively. cnycf.org/communityresource

CNY Vitals & CNY Vitals Pro are state-of-the- community websites that provide a common source of data and interactive visualizations on critical topics that affect
the health and progress of our region. cnyvitals.org