CICF's For Good CICF's For Good

“I’m convinced that the only way that we’re going to dismantle systemic racism in this country, and in our region…is that people of color and white people—people of the white race and people of other races—that they get into deep, authentic relationship with each other and they learn from each other.” – Brian Payne

In this episode of For Good, Brian Payne, CICF president and CEO, closes out 2019 in reflection and with gratitude. Listen to his top three projects, ideas and partnerships from the year, the value of relationships, and giving people grace.

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to For Good through your favorite podcast app and leave us a review!





Transcription of episode available below.







WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO



* Sarah Cowart, director of marketing and communications at CICF

* Brian Payne, president and CEO of CICF and president of The Indianapolis Foundation



DISCOVER MORE



* CICF’s mission and strategic plans for Marion and Hamilton counties





You’re listening to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in creating a community where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race or identity. This is our community and these are your stories.

SARAH: Welcome to For Good. I’m Sarah Cowart, director of marketing and communications at CICF. We have a special episode for you today, featuring CICF president and CEO, Brian Payne. We’ll take a look back at 2019 and look forward to 2020. And there is a lot to talk about, so we are going to dive right in.

Brian, thank you for the conversation today. Can you talk about, all the things that have happened in this last year, what stands out to you the most as your top three projects, ideas, partnerships, anything that’s going on in the last year.

BRIAN: There has been a tremendous amount going on that we’re very proud of. It’s been one of the most memorable years of my career. And so getting it down to three, which I think is a reasonable question, is a bit of a challenge, but let me think. On April 11th, we all, on staff and our board and a lot of people in the community, gratefully, refer to our April 11th announcement. Which is now known as our Inclusive City Initiative. And you and I know, you being the marketing director, we thought Inclusive City was a great name for the announcement, but people have kind of dubbed our initiatives Inclusive City. And I think that’s tremendous. So we had this incredible announcement on April 11th at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. We think somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people showed up as we announced a whole new mission statement, our new strategic plan, a generational or multi-generational commitment to dismantling systemic racism in central Indiana with a focus on how do we create a community.

We’re all individuals, have an equitable opportunity to reach their full potential no matter their place, race or identity. So that was a big, new announcement. One of the thrills was to be on one end of the court and to look at the corner of Bankers Life and see a full house from that perspective. To use the big $10 million video scoreboard as our PowerPoint screen. I mean, just being in that room, I had no idea when I walked in that I would have that kind of feeling of importance and impact that the space gave us. And then we put on a heck of a show with partners, and lifted up people’s voices, brilliant people’s voices, brilliant people of color who don’t usually get a stage like that. None of us get a stage like that, usually. And it was an incredible memorable 90 minutes of an evening.

“If you can’t get from point A to point B easily, affordably, and equitably—meaning in a way that’s available to all residents in the community—it really pulls the entire community down.” – Ron Gifford

In this episode of For Good, we convene local leaders and residents for a conversation about personal mobility and transportation in Central Indiana, and strategies underway to ensure everyone has equitable opportunities to access various modes of transportation and obtain housing, jobs and health services.

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to For Good through your favorite podcast app and leave us a review!





Transcription of episode available below.







WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO



* Ben Snyder, marketing and communications manager at CICF

* Wildstyle, community ambassador at CICF

* Ron Gifford, project manager for Personal Mobility Network

* Bryan Luellen, vice president of public affairs at IndyGo



DISCOVER MORE



* Current IndyGo projects, including rapid transit

* Ford Mobility City:One Challenge

* CICF’s Family Stabilization initiative, including the Personal Mobility Network





You’re listening to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in creating a community where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race or identity. This is our community and these are your stories.

Ben Snyder: Hello, and welcome to For Good. I’m Ben Snyder, marketing and communications manager at Central Indiana Community Foundation. Today on the show we’re talking about transportation and the Personal Mobility Network created and incubated by CICF. We’re recording from the Julia M. Carson Transit Center, which opened in 2016 and is home to IndyGo’s bus transit system, a fitting location for our conversation. And as you might guess, our three guests today are very involved in transportation and mobility here in Indianapolis. Can you each introduce yourselves?

Bryan Luellen: I’m Bryan Luellen, public affairs with IndyGo.

Wildstyle: I’m Wildstyle. I’m a Central Indiana Community Foundation ambassador.

Ron Gifford: I’m Ron Gifford. I’m the project manager for the Personal Mobility Network.

BEN: Awesome. Great. Thank you, guys, for coming and joining us for this conversation today. Starting off, we know that Indianapolis has the second highest transportation cost as a percent of income among the 30 largest metros. What do you think contributes to that high cost in our community, and how does that impact you personally? Let’s start with you Wildstyle.

WILDSTYLE: Well, actually, I didn’t know that before, but that’s not surprising. I spent 13 years as an auto mechanic, and I can tell you that just from that point of view seeing what customers went through, and then with my own cars of actually being able to fix them but having to make sure I had enough money in the bank account just to pay for the parts, was stressful. So maintenance, obviously our roads could be in better condition. And then I think there’s been a huge issue previously, not as much now but still quite a bit, with the police enforcement and basically them causing a lot of people to lose their licenses over stuff that really isn’t necessarily public safety.

BEN: And Ron?

RON: Well,

Hamilton County Community Foundation believes in building a community where opportunity meets growth for everyone. That’s why, as part of our Inclusive Economic Growth community leadership initiative, we partner with those working to solve the affordable housing crisis. In this episode of For Good, we convene civic leaders for a conversation about strategies to provide more affordable, accessible housing throughout Hamilton County.

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to For Good through your favorite podcast app and leave us a review!





Transcription of episode available below.







WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO



* Tom Kilian, president of Hamilton County Community Foundation

* Mackenzie Poole, community leadership officer at Hamilton County Community Foundation

* Mayor Scott Fadness, City of Fishers

* Mo Merhoff, president of OneZone

* Jennifer Miller, executive director of HAND



DISCOVER MORE



* HAND’s Housing Needs Assessment

* “6 graphics that explain Carmel’s affordable housing crunch” from The Indianapolis Star

* “Retiring baby boomers want to stay in Carmel, but they can’t find places to downsize” from The Indianapolis Star

* “Fishers aims to downsize new homes to meet changing demand” from The Indianapolis Star





You’re listening to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in creating a community where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race or identity. This is our community and these are your stories.

Tom Kilian: Hello and welcome to For Good. I’m Tom Kilian, President of Hamilton County Community Foundation. Almost a year ago, our foundation announced three community leadership initiatives, one of which is inclusive economic growth. So how did we land on this particular initiative? Well, our communities throughout Hamilton County made it clear that they wanted to become economic growth hubs. Economists oftentimes use the term multiple sector growth to analyze the potential of economic boom. In other words, we as communities will struggle to become economic growth hubs if we are unwilling to support multiple sector growth. This not only includes the industries themselves, but the infrastructure to support them. We’re talking about the ability to create a community where everyone, regardless of their place, race or identity, has the ability to live, work, and play in Hamilton County. But as we looked at local data, we saw a persistent gap around things like affordable housing, transportation, post-secondary credentialing and overall connectivity.

Today we’re going to focus on affordable housing. Over the last year,

Held every August, Black Philanthropy Month is a global celebration that seeks to “inform, involve, inspire and invest in black philanthropic leadership to strengthen African-American and African-descent giving in all its forms.”  In this episode of For Good, African American Legacy Fund of Indianapolis (AALFI) founding members and steering committee members share their personal stories about why black philanthropy matters and how the fund seeks to address community needs going forward.







WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO

AALFI steering committee members:



* Katasha Butler

* Nickolas Williams

* Nichole Wilson



DISCOVER MORE



* African American Legacy Fund of Indianapolis

* Black Philanthropy Month





You’re listening to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in creating a community where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race or identity. This is our community and these are your stories.

Hello and welcome to For Good. I’m Dr. Katasha Butler, a founding member of the African American Legacy Fund of Indianapolis, a fund at Central Indiana Community Foundation. The African American Legacy Fund of Indianapolis was established in 2019 to promote philanthropy and harness the collective power of African Americans to impact the local African American community. We are a collective philanthropic initiative working to improve life-affirming outcomes for African Americans in our community. And our vision is to inspire a spirit of giving that will uplift and move the social, mental and economic state of African-Americans forward.

Today on For Good, you’ll hear more from me and other founding members of the African American Legacy Fund, who we are, and why we think this is important for our community.

The thing that strikes me the most is that with all of the different things that are impacting our community as a whole, there’s such great disparities amongst the African American population and brown and black people. And so, being a brown and black person, obviously that is disheartening. I don’t know, it just dawned on me one day that there wasn’t a fund, and I knew and had learned that other cities had funds, and I thought, “Why don’t we have one?”.

NICHOLE: I am Nichole. I am vice president of retail health services for Community Health Network here in Indianapolis, Indiana, and I am a founding member and steering committee member of the African American Legacy Fund of Indianapolis.

I just feel it’s really important that we as an African American community be a part of the solution in a meaningful way. If these issues are impacting us disproportionately, and our people, that means our family, our friends, our church members, our coworkers, then we have a responsibility to be at the table and have some skin in the game to make it better. I just think that it’s so important for us to be a part of this solution because it hasn’t been solved as of yet, and this is one way that we can collectively come together and do our part in a meaningful way.

My first memory of philanthropy was actually through the church, giving through the church, and I think that’s common in the black community. That’s where we all have our first foundation of giving, because every Sunday you see your parents pull out money and put it in a basket and pass it down. And at the time,

CICF’s new strategic plan includes strategies to engage “opportunity youth” (defined as those between the ages of 16-24 and not enrolled or employed) in programs that promote education or career pathways. In this episode of For Good, hear from local leaders about ongoing efforts to provide opportunity to young people in our community. These programs include:



* Community Action of Greater Indianapolis, which provides youth enrichment services, housing assistance and community outreach programs working toward the reduction and elimination of poverty in Central Indiana.

* Groundwork Indy, which operates two youth development programs: the Green Team, which employs in-school youth ages 14-18 and is focused on building leadership skills, environmental awareness and life skills; and GroundCorp, which employs out-of-school youth ages 16-24 and is focused on job training and preparedness.

* YES Indy REC, formerly the Pivot Re-Engagement Center, at Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis, where service providers engage “opportunity youth” to build confidence and connections with education and employment resources.



If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to For Good through your favorite podcast app and leave us a review!





Transcription of episode available below.







WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO



* Andrew Black – director of community leadership at CICF

* Val Tate – community engagement and development director at Community Action of Greater Indianapolis

* Phyllis Boyd – executive director of Groundwork Indy

* Erik Davenport – director of YES Indy REC



DISCOVER MORE



* $400,000 Allocated to Launch First Central Indiana Opportunity Youth Collaborative – recent investment from our Community Leadership Initiative Fund

* Let’s Stop Failing our Youth and Community – editorial from our Community Leadership Initiative Fund

* Our strategic plan for Marion County





Welcome to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in opportunity and equity. We believe that our communities and neighborhoods are stronger because of our diversity. And we believe that with innovation and boldness, central Indiana can be a place where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race, or identity.

This is our community. And these are your stories.

You’re listening to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in creating a community where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race, or identity. This is our community and these are your stories.

ANDREW:  Hello, and welcome to For Good. I’m Drew Black, a director of community leadership at Central Indiana Community Foundation. Today, we are recording just north of Central Library from Comida, where owner and head chef Lance George uniquely fuses Mexican and barb...

“People are people. Community is community. And everybody wants a safe place, a nice neighborhood, but people are overlooked. To me that was huge—that the answers are the same. People may be different, but the answers are the same .”

—Valerie Davis, CICF community ambassador





We believes communities are most successful and thriving when investments are resident-driven and when neighborhoods have access to culturally relevant art, nature and beauty every day. Our community ambassadors help engage CICF in reciprocal relationships with residents and their neighborhoods. In this month’s podcast, meet our ambassadors and listen to a conversation about what they say are their neighborhood’s assets and challenges.

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to For Good through your favorite podcast app and leave us a review!





Transcription of episode available below.







WHO YOU’RE LISTENING TO



* Pamela Ross – vice president of opportunity, equity and inclusion at CICF

* DeAmon Harges – CICF community ambassador advisor

* Annie Smith – CICF community ambassador representing the Far Eastside neighborhood

* Wildstyle – CICF community ambassador representing the Northwest neighborhood

* Lillian Bailey – CICF community ambassador representing the Crooked Creek neighborhood

* Beatrice Beverly – CICF community ambassador representing the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood

* Valerie Davis – CICF community ambassador representing the Near Eastside neighborhood



DISCOVER MORE



* Learn more about our community ambassadors and how they support our mission and strategic plan

* The Learning Tree – Indianapolis organization of neighbors that specializes in asset-based community development





Welcome to For Good, Central Indiana Community Foundation’s podcast highlighting stories about passion, purpose, and progress in Central Indiana. At CICF, we believe in opportunity and equity. We believe that our communities and neighborhoods are stronger because of our diversity. And we believe that with innovation and boldness, central Indiana can be a place where everyone can reach their full potential, no matter their place, race, or identity.

This is our community. And these are your stories.

PAMELA ROSS: Hello and welcome to For Good. I’m Pamela Ross, vice-president for opportunity, equity, and inclusion at Central Indiana Community Foundation. In 2017, CICF launched a community ambassador program to engage and elevate the voices of residents. We tasked them with listening to people in discussions about assets in their community, where gaps exist, and where funding can make a difference.

Their feedback has made a significant and lasting impact at CICF. We have built invaluable relationships as a result, which is why I’m happy to be joined today with some of our ambassadors for a candid conversation about their neighborhoods and how we’ve been learning and growing together.

We have DeAmon Harges, who has been a longtime organizer for the community and for the City of Indianapolis. DeAmon was part of our first cohort of 36 ambassadors in 2017. We asked him to come back and he took a step further in saying that he wanted to play a role of leadership in this. I can absolutely say that DeAmon has made a big difference in my learning, in my journey, in being able to lead this for the organization.

DEAMON HARGRES: Pam, you’ve been very gracious, and thank you for that.

PAM: Next, Annie Smith. Annie, like all the ambassadors at the table, is a longtime resident of Indianapolis.