Forever Forward

What role can community foundations play in solving the challenges facing their communities – beyond important contributions of grant funding? In a new episode of our podcast, Forever Forward, President Isaiah M. Oliver sits down with Mary Thomas, President and CEO of CFLeads, and Rose Bradshaw, President and CEO of the North Texas Community Foundation, to talk about the role of community foundations in community leadership. For the last two years, Isaiah has served as the chair of the board of CFLeads, which represents the country’s national network of community foundations committed to community leadership. The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida recently hosted a meeting of the board here in Jacksonville. “I believe in community foundations – it’s in my DNA,” Mary said. “Once folks hear about the value proposition of community foundations being trusted partners in their own communities, the magic will happen.”Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

In this episode of the podcast, TCF President Isaiah Oliver joins two national leaders whose work has shaped philanthropy at every level—from grassroots communities in the rural South to the largest philanthropic institutions in the country. Dr. Sherece West-Scantlebury is president of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in Arkansas, after previously leading the Foundation for Louisiana and serving at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  Her husband, Joe Scantlebury, began his career as a lawyer from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and went on to serve in senior philanthropic leadership at the Gates Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He is now the president of Living Cities, which brings together some of the most influential philanthropic and financial institutions in America—MacArthur, Kellogg, Robert Wood Johnson, M&T Bank, and Truist. Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

In our May Donors Forum, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Weaver Philanthropic Initiative with guest, Robyn Schein, senior consultant at 21/64, a national leader on next-generation philanthropy.In this episode, listen as Wanda Willis continues the conversation on next gen philanthropy with Robyn in our studio.Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

This spring, The Community Foundation partnered with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy to discuss their recent report, 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2025, at our Donors Forum programs for regional grantmakers.In this episode, we invited our guests to share their insights with Wanda Willis, Vice President of Civic Leadership. The conversation starts with Tory Martin, Director of Communications and Strategic Partnerships at the Johnson Center. Then we turn to Michael D. Layton, PhD, who dives into one of the 11 trends that we know well here at The Community Foundation – collective giving.  Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

Over the past nine years, The Community Foundation has made over $1.6 million in grants to foster inclusive prosperity across Jacksonville as part of our key leadership initiative, Supporting Neighborhoods.  One of the stand-out areas of investment has been a body of work we call “heirs property,” led by local nonprofit partners including the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). It’s a critical component for building wealth in underserved neighborhoods, and The Community Foundation has made multiple grants to support it in Duval County and now in Nassau County.  The data is impressive: In the past four years, LISC has invested more than $1 million in resolving heirs property issues, and the work has successfully preserved or stabilized more than $29 million in real estate.  Our guests from LISC – Kristopher Smith, Community Development Program Officer, and John Sapora, Housing Resiliency Program Officer, join James Coggin, TCF Senior Director of Grantmaking and Impact Investing, to tell us more about this work. Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

Isaiah Oliver talks with Marsha Hatcher about her work, how she's helping emerging artists in Jacksonville, and what it means for her to be selected for the Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award. Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

The term “urban forest” may sound like an oxymoron. But the newest episode of our podcast, Forever Forward, offers insights into why it’s an aspiration rather than a contradiction. In this episode, Isaiah Oliver sat down with Anne Coglianese, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Jacksonville, and Valerie Feinberg, Executive FUSE Fellow, to learn how their work is helping protect our region from the impacts of climate.  Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

In this episode of Forever Forward, community stewards Gregory Owens and Cleve Warren sat down with TCF’s Vice President of Civic Leadership, Wanda Willis, to discuss the Eartha M.M. White Legacy Fund. The endowed fund has made more than $1.3M in grants since it was created by the sale of Eartha M.M. White’s nursing home, and is celebrating its 20th anniversary here at The Community Foundation. Both Owens and Warren have led grantmaking from the fund from the very beginning, and in this podcast, they share their stories about Eartha White and what they’re proudest of, looking back on 20 years of grants.  Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org

Learn more and sign up for email updates at jaxcf.org