Giving Forward 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 Northeast Florida home.
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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 what inspires them to give back through The Community Foundation.

I hope you'll tune in to hear:
How Nancy and Gary first came to Northeast Florida through Gary's career at AcostaWhy their family has focused on K-12 education, early childhood education and social and emotional health in their philanthropyHow they're engaging their children and grandchildren in learning the joy of givingI hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 
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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 support for public education since then. 
In Episode 7 of the Giving Forward podcast, “Bridging Divides,” we talk about our journey in community philanthropy over two decades, including: 
Why The Community Foundation approaches using our voice to advocate for change in a time of political and social division The benefits of giving through The Community Foundation – even when donors also have a private foundation The “most beautiful gift” she’s ever received – the Cindy Edelman Excellence in Teaching Fellowship I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 
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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 talk about the interesting work we’ve been privileged to be part of: 
How we worked with many others to create the LGBTQ Community Fund Why collective giving can enhance the impact of individual donors What well-run youth diversion programs can do to reduce crime and improve life outcomes How cash bail reform can address racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system I’m incredibly proud of the work Michael and I have been part of, and I hope you’ll enjoy our stories as we pull back the curtain on our work to build a better community. 
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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. 
 
 In this conversation, you’ll hear about why we never go it alone, and other topics, including: 
How Sherry first came to the duPont Fund, and our first collaboration together on improving the quality of services for child- and youth-serving organizations Why private philanthropy must support the nonprofit sector, and how we worked as partners to protect the mission of the Kids Hope Alliance How we proactively organized a disaster response fund after we saw what happened during the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando Why humility is one of the most important traits for working in philanthropy 
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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 Episode 4 of the Giving Forward podcast, we talk about the state of public education today, and discuss our sources of inspiration – including the petite businesswoman who taught me how to lead in a male-dominated town. 
Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org