Creating Bridges for Strategic Solutions
In 2007, our Board of Directors endorsed a five-year (2007-2012) strategic plan. This plan embraces a new focus on inclusiveness and civic engagement for all with these objectives:
- Pursuing an active community leadership model
- Increasing our community impact through:
- engaging donors to support our leadership agenda
- adding more legacy gifts to our community endowment
- growing our unrestricted field-of-interest funds
- Operational excellence in all of our core functions
Through responsive grantmaking and strategic initiatives, we tackle Sonoma County’s most challenging issues. We also understand that we cannot do this alone. Whenever possible, we initiate collaboration and partnerships to craft sustainable solutions.
In convening diverse groups, we better understand the complexity of each problem and work together to build a solid basis for lasting change. Our partners include community-benefit organizations, donors, government, civic and business leaders and experts in their particular field.
Our current Strategic Initiatives are:
For each initiative, we will keep you informed on:
- How the issue affects Sonoma County
- What the Community Foundation is doing to address the issue
- How our partners are working to create positive change
- How to get more involved through volunteering or other activities
- Links to resources to help you learn more
We are committed to ending family homelessness in this community. The great majority of homeless families are headed by single mothers who are poor and vulnerable; most are victims of violence. We believe the cycle of multiple-generation homelessness can be broken. The Community Foundation, in partnership with COTS, Catholic Charities, YWCA, CAP and Women’s Recovery Services provides these mothers effective and meaningful programs to make their current episode of homelessness their last. Through our innovative approach, families will have the tools to break their cycle of poverty and homelessness and the resilience to sustain their hard-earned gains.
In 2004, we were awarded a grant from the James Irvine Foundation to participate in its Communities Advancing the Arts (CAA) initiative. This partnership inspired our own Arts Initiative and spawned local partnerships, attracted funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, gained CAA Phase Two funding from Irvine and resulted in numerous county-wide projects in the arts sector.