Giving Voice | Spring 2023

GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

A PUBLICATION OF THE CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SPRING 2023

FOOD ACCESS HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS NOW PG. 3 1

CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

CONTENTS 02

03

05

07

09

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GIVING MATTERS

COVER STORY

DONOR STORY

COMMUNITY IMPACT

GRANTING MATTERS

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Planning a Benevolent Exit

Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now

A Band of Sisters for the Greater Good

$1,171,480 in Grants Distributed to 28 Nonprofit Organizations

Changes to our Community Grant Application put DEI focus on organizational leadership

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GRANTEE STORY

OUR PEOPLE: ANNOUNCEMENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES

Upstate Foundation: The Golisano Center for Special Needs-AccessCNY Sensory Movement

This June, I’ll wrap up 15 years leading the Community Foundation. It has been a remarkable journey. As I reflect, some key milestones rise to the surface that I think bear lifting up: RESILIENCE My time in this role has been punctuated by some profound crises — the 2007-2009 global financial crisis and Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lot of scary investment and political volatility. As an institution, we were designed for the long haul. As we approach our 100th year, I am proud that our fiscal model has endured, we’ve grown substantially, and our role in and impact on the region only stands to grow more in future years.

CNY PHILANTHROPY CENTER Every day when I walk into our building, I still can’t believe we pulled off the project. There are so many to thank: our board (who took a great leap of faith during the middle of a financial crisis), the great construction and design teams, tenants who wanted to be a part of the space, and the thousands of people who have stepped over the threshold to join together in what is now community space.

COLLABORATION How best can we move our community forward? Our answer has been emphatically “together” and this has manifested in many collaborations, funder co-investments, and experiments with new ways of deploying philanthropic funds. Examples abound, like our COVID-19 Community Response Fund, the Black Equity & Excellence Fund, multiple literacy coalitions, the new LeadSafeCNY task force, our new participatory budgeting effort, and our Cortland Bright Ideas initiative.

EQUITY As someone responsible for leveraging community impact using finite amounts of philanthropic resources, I believe that our commitment to equity has been a great investment decision. Using a lens that takes into account systemic bias in all its forms — racial, economic, gender, identity, and ability — enables us to get better results with the funds that donors have entrusted to us.

Equity is simply good stewardship.

I want to thank our current and former staff and board members, who have been rock stars throughout my tenure. The confidence of our donors and our partners, and their faith in our work, has been profound. I will be forever grateful for the trust that you’ve put in me since I arrived in 2008.

Later this summer, in August, I will continue my professional journey as the new CEO of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation in Massachusetts. This is a great career capstone opportunity for me to help build up the scope, scale and impact of community philanthropy in Central Massachusetts — a community that my wife and her family also have connections to. So, I won’t be far away — just down the NYS Thruway and Massachusetts Turnpike — and we will always welcome visitors!

SAY YES We have supported Say Yes for more than a dozen years, as the financial backbone and, now, staffing the program. What started as a vision has endured with the help of a collection of community partners, is now permanently endowed, and has supported hundreds of kids and families in Syracuse to help grow opportunity for post-secondary achievement.

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PETER A. DUNN President & CEO

GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

GIVING MAT TERS

PLANNING A BENEVOLENT EXIT If you’re a business owner, at some point you may begin thinking about an exit strategy.

Sometimes that strategy presents itself in the form of an unsolicited buyer. Before you engage any potential acquirers, you might want to explore the benefits of contributing an ownership interest in your business to a donor-advised fund or other type of fund at the Community Foundation.

If you’ve owned your business for several years — or decades — you could be sitting on substantial unrealized capital gains, thanks to the increasing value of the business over time. A business sale will trigger tax on capital gains, reducing the proceeds you get to keep. No capital gains tax will apply, however, to the sale of any portion of the business owned by your donor-advised fund, plus you will receive a charitable deduction for the gift of ownership.

Don’t start negotiating for your company’s sale before you’ve talked with the Community Foundation and your advisors. Otherwise, you might get caught in the trap of the IRS’s

step transaction regulations that affect any presale gift to charity of real estate, closely-held stock or other alternative asset.

If you sell your business without making a gift of ownership, you still have the option of making a post-sale charitable gift of cash.

While this approach doesn’t avoid realizing capital gains, it still provides a charitable deduction that can be effective at reducing your income tax due in the year of the sale.

This past year, five post-sale gifts created funds at the Community Foundation.

These were the result of business sales that occurred in Syracuse where owners or employees received sale proceeds or deferred compensation. In each case, the donor was somewhat familiar with us, but was also connected by a professional advisor who knew how beneficial a charitable contribution would be for their client that year, how flexible a donor-advised fund is for charitable giving, and how we can be a resource to donors who care about Central New York.

If you own a business and want to learn more about making a presale or post-sale gift to a donor-advised fund or other type of fund at the Community Foundation, please contact us. Our team can help you and your advisors evaluate your options and ultimately prepare for the transaction. We will work with your advisors to secure a proper valuation for the charitable deduction when a portion of the business interest is contributed to your donor-advised or other type of fund.

THOMAS M. GRIFFITH, AEP ®, CAP ®, CHFC ® Vice President of Development

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CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

Pictured: Karen Harrison

COVER STORY

WINTER MARKET PRODUCES MORE THAN JUST PRODUCE Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now

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GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

On a Sunday in January, Karen Harrison walked across the street from her home in Syracuse’s Valley neighborhood to the area’s first winter market. “I bought greens and onions, potatoes and garlic,” she said. “They’re good and fresh. I just went over there with my bags and filled them up and paid and went back home. It was that easy.”

The winter market, organized by Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now (FAHNN), runs the second and fourth Saturday of the month through April at an empty store in the Valley Plaza Shopping Center, 4141 S. Salina St. Rhonda Vesey started the organization in May 2021 to provide food access to a Syracuse neighborhood with no grocery store. Since Tops closed its Valley Plaza store in 2018, neighbors lost easy access to fresh produce, dairy and meat. Transportation barriers make it difficult for many in a neighborhood with high levels of poverty and health inequity to travel to buy groceries.

In July 2022, Audrey Haskell, the vice chair of Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now, Vesey, and other volunteers started a weekly outdoor summer market at Valley Plaza. Operating through October, it featured food grown at nearby Brady Farm and from other local vendors. Vesey also booked musical entertainment and invited representatives from Upstate Medical University Healthy Hearts Program to do blood pressure checks, help connect people with primary care physicians and educate them about smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

“It takes a lot to get a healthy neighborhood,” Vesey said. “Food is the start of that. You have to have a strong mind and a healthy body to get a job so you can feed your kids.”

The summer market was so successful, FAHNN wanted to operate a market in winter, too. A grant from our Anti-Poverty Pictured: Rhonda Vesey

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Initiative Fund supported hiring Vesey as outreach manager and coordinator for the winter market.

The winter market is “constantly busy,” Vesey said, with customers buying produce, baked goods and eggs from local vendors and wholesale sellers. Brady Faith Center, which sponsors FAHNN, often sells out of the fruits and vegetables grown at its Brady Farm.

Harrison, a longtime supporter of Brady Farm, tries to eat locally and eat seasonally.

“If most of my greens and salad items are grown locally that’s valuable,” she said.

The winter market shares that vision. “You can walk two or three blocks with your bag and pick up onions and potatoes,” she said.

“You aren’t picking up chips and cookies.

It helps you be more intentional about being healthy.”

The winter market also provides social benefits. “A bunch of my neighbors were there,” Harrison said. “You’re seeing people from the community and saying ‘hello.’”

Vesey is thrilled that’s happening. “We’re weaving a positive web into the community,” she said. “We want to bring folks out long enough to feel good about their community.”

The 2023 summer market is expected to begin in June and continue until October.

CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

Left: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Iota Nu Omega Chapter members

DONOR STORY

A BAND OF SISTERS FOR THE GREATER GOOD Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Iota Nu Omega Chapter

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GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

Wearing a flowing pink shawl and a smile from ear to ear, Evelyn Ingram stood proudly on the steps of Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel, surrounded by her 42 sisters. Sorority sisters, that is — but all the same to Evelyn Ingram.

AKA was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The founders were among the fewer than 1,000 Black women enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions that year and included the 25 women who received Bachelor of Arts degrees from Howard University between 1908 and 1911. With this history in mind, the Iota Nu Omega Chapter focuses on cultivating academic sustainability and growth among young Black women.

“Even though I have two biological sisters, the sisterhood within the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA) is an extension of that,” Ingram said. “We are intertwined by our shared love of community service, continued education for young Black women, and most importantly, fostering sisterhood.”

A short time later, Ingram, and her fellow AKA sisters were catching up over coffee, reconnecting, laughing and telling stories — doing what sisters do. With the sorority’s mission of cultivating and encouraging high scholastic and ethical standards to promote unity and friendship among women and girls, it’s no wonder the sisters had so much to talk about.

This goal led the group to create the Alpha Kappa Alpha Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation. Each year the fund provides scholarship support for young women with the promise and potential to attend college or a higher education institution.

We provide both financial oversight and administrative support for the scholarship.

“Sisterhood and service are at the core of everything we do and who we are,” Ingram said. “I have this love of community service and connection, but my fellow sisters share the same love. For us to come together and combine that love to make a larger impact, it feels like I’m never alone.”

“Many times we’ve had recipients tell us that without this scholarship, they would not be able to attend college,” Ingram said. “If our scholarship award can help them purchase books for a year or contribute to tuition, that’s a substantial commitment to their education and a resource that they may not have had otherwise.”

Since she was a young girl, Ingram had wanted to be an Alpha Kappa Alpha woman.

Her mother, although not a member, was affiliated with the sorority while at Bluefield State College in West Virginia. When Ingram graduated from Syracuse University, she was eager to begin making an impact on her community. After completion of the membership process for Alpha Kappa Alpha, she was later initiated into the graduate chapter— Iota Nu Omega — in 1994. She served as chapter president from 2019 to 2022 and celebrates 29 years of membership in the sorority this year.

In addition to considering financial need, the sorority looks for recipients who demonstrate core values of community service, tenacity and dedication to continued learning.

“To really feel like we are having a direct impact on these young women and making a difference in their lives brings me joy. It really does,” Ingram said. “For all my sisters to come together, bring our love together and make it useful and impactful, to me is the best feeling.”

“What drew me to the organization was watching the way the sisters proudly carried themselves and focused on doing things to help others,” Ingram said. “My involvement has provided me with the opportunity to serve as a mentor and role model to other young Black women.”

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CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

COMMUNITY IMPACT ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & EMPLOYMENT

EDUCATION

In December and March, our board of directors approved $1,171,480 in grants to 28 nonprofit organizations through our Community Grantmaking program.

$19,890

$12,000

$30,595

ARTS AT THE PALACE

SYRACUSE STAGE

Launch Hamilton Creates, a new artist development and incubator studio

Expand collection of accessibility equipment to offer sensory-friendly shows

THE CORA FOUNDATION

$50,000

$22,000

$50,000

$72,942

MERCY WORKS

NORTHEAST HAWLEY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

THE WOMEN’S ECONOMIC INSTITUTE

WESTCOTT COMMUNITY CENTER

Support the Southside Renaissance Project

Host a collaborative employment program with Syracuse Community Health Center

Renovate the Clarence Jordan Vision Center

Renovate and repair the ArtRage Gallery building’s infrastructure

Host the second year of its economic development pilot program

$20,000

$15,000

$45,576

$50,000

$30,000

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SYRACUSE

CONGOLESE WOMEN VISION INTEGRITY AND ACTION

FRIENDS OF THE ROSAMOND GIFFORD ZOO AT BURNET PARK

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION

SKANEATELES FESTIVAL

Create a junior staff program to provide teens with opportunities to explore careers

Host lead poisoning and computer literacy training for New Americans

Host Tadpole Academy and Tales & Tails workshops for children impacted by systemic racism or other bias

Upgrade the museum’s phone and internet systems to improve storage capacity for customer records

Launch “Following Harriet,” a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s birth

$29,398 TILLIE’S TOUCH Install an indoor soccer training area in its new community center and academic tutoring facility

ENVIRONMENT & ANIMALS

$63,745

$118,000

$46,700

CAZENOVIA PRESERVATION FOUNDATION

CENTRAL NEW YORK LAND TRUST

CLEAR PATH FOR VETERANS

Renovate new office headquarters on Woodchuck Hill Preserve

Support pre-construction planning costs of a new facility to house its Canine Program

Revitalize trails around the Gorge Trail Gateway and Chittenango Creek

HEALTH

HUMAN SERVICES

$30,000

$31,200

THE UPSTATE FOUNDATION

THE UPSTATE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

$22,000 HUMANECNY Replace the shelter’s front windows to increase energy efficiency

Fund the second year of its Pediatric Kidney Transplant and Chronic Kidney Disease nurse coordinator position

Support continued cancer and heart research

$18,000

$50,000

$50,000

$20,000

$76,522

AURORA OF CNY

CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ONONDAGA COUNTY

DEAF NEW AMERICANS ADVOCACY

HILLSIDE CHILDREN’S CENTER SYRACUSE

LORETTO HEALTH & REHABILITATION

Support the creation of a Ukrainian Direct Assistance Fund to aid Ukrainian refugees

Purchase an accessible passenger van to transport New Americans

Purchase laptops for students in the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection program

Upgrade the security systems at its main facility

$30,000

$59,912

$50,000

PURPOSE FARM

REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT SELFEMPOWERMENT

SYRACUSE NORTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER

Fund a year of the director of agriculture position to help community members learn to grow their own food

Purchase new laptops and tablets for its CNY Digital Empowerment Program

Support its Children’s Hearing Aid Program

$58,000 OG’S AGAINST VIOLENCE Support the Violence Interrupter Training Program to help prevent violence in the community

Rebuild a barn to provide housing for animals and host programming

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GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

Pictured: Deaf New Americans Advocacy

THESE GRANTS WERE MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING FUNDS

To learn more about these funds and many others that make our grantmaking possible, visit: CNYCF.ORG/FUNDS

5forCNY Fund Anonymous #34 Fund Ellen T. & David R. Bacon Fund Charlotte & Donald Ball Fund William D. Barnet Memorial Scholarship Fund Peter & Barbara Baum Fund Benji Fund Besse Family Fund Bilford Family Fund Charles F. Brannock Fund Shirley M. Brennan Fund William L. Broad Fund Virginia C. Simons & Dr. C. Adele Brown Fund Kenneth P. & Charlotte C. Buckley Fund Cabasino Fund Patricia M. & Vincent H. Callahan Fund Carriage House Foundation Fund Philip R. & Elizabeth Chase Fund Clarke Family Fund Laurie J. & Dr. William R. Clark, Jr. Community Fund Solly & Belle Cohen Fund William & Sylvia Cohen Community Fund CNYCF Community Fund Mary Frances Costello Fund J. Henry & Martha E. DeBoer Fund Alfred & Grace DiBella Fund John S. & Julia G. Dietz Fund Olga Dietz Turner Fund Divot’s Fund Mary Louise Dunn Fund #2 Margaret J. Early Fund Education Endowment Fund Steven A. Endieveri Memorial Fund Carlton R. Estey Fund

Alice M. Gaylord Trust Joseph C. Georg Fund Minnie O. Goodman Fund Frances E. & John S. Hancock Fund Carroll A. Hennessy Fund Anthony A. & Susan Henninger Memorial Fund Hills Family Fund I. A. Hotze Fund Iaconis, Iaconis & Baum Fund Martha A. & Eugene F. Keppler Fund Marjorie D. Kienzle Fund Faith T. Knapp Memorial Fund Frances C. & Albert C. Knight Charitable Fund George & Luella Krahl Fund Ruth E. Krull Fund Alicia A. & George W. Lee Fund Leonard Family Endowment Martha, Gracia & Robert Leopold Fund LFM Fund Maier Family Community Fund L.C. Maier Community Fund Candace & John Marsellus Community Fund Gay D. Marsellus Fund John F. Marsellus Fund Flora Mather Hosmer Fund Helen Hancock McClintock Fund Anne L. Messenger Community Fund James & Aileen Miller Charitable Fund H. Gillis & Letty M. Murray Fund Donald C. & Marion F. Newton Fund Peggy Ogden Community Fund Dorothy M. Olds Fund Carol W. & Emiel D. Palmer Fund P-D Family Fund

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John R. Pelkey Community Fund Theodore & Marjorie B. Pierson Fund Robert & Anne Pietrafesa Fund J. Daniel & Diane Pluff Fund Robert A. & Winifred S. Pond Family Fund Brian Cole Retan Memorial Fund Dorothy Retan Irish Fund James A. & McDowell Smith Reynolds Fund Lawrence E. Root Fund Tiny Rubenstein Animal Welfare Fund Rosalind & Seymour Rudolph Fund Elizabeth Salisbury Brooks Fund Robert & Dorothy Salisbury Fund Helene C. Schroeder Fund Daniel & Jeanne Schwartz Fund Frederick B. & Laura B. Scott Fund Dorothy R. Shoudy Memorial Hearing Impaired Fund Shuart Family Fund Adelaide Louise Silvia Community Fund Frances Singer Hennessy Fund Winifred & DeVillo Sloan, Jr. Family Fund The Lee & Alice Smith Fund Frances M. Thompson Fund Dr. Robert J. Vitkus Fund Donald & Hilda Watrous Fund Virginia Wendel Fund Carolyn V. West Fund Dorothy C. Witherill Fund The Witherill Fund Forrest H. Witmeyer Fund Arthur W. & Mabel P. Wrieden Memorial Fund Peter Zerebny Community Fund

CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

GRANTING MAT TERS

CHANGES TO COMMUNITY GRANT APPLICATION PUT DEI FOCUS ON ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP

We understand that dismantling structural inequities in our community brings us one step closer to ensuring opportunity for all.

When thinking about the grants that we make, it’s safe to conclude that they are having a positive impact on members of our community. But where exactly, and in whom, are we investing? Are we ensuring that these investments are being distributed equitably?

Are our grant dollars going to organizations and projects that serve communities that have been impacted by systemic racism or other bias?

Historically, we did not have an efficient or comprehensive way of knowing the answers to these questions. As the Community Investment team member overseeing our Community Grants program, I feel a personal responsibility to make sure that we distribute our grant dollars in an equitable way. To hold ourselves accountable, we first had to start collecting the data.

With this in mind, and after extensive consultation with our board of directors, we recently made some changes to our Community

Grant application. We added demographic questions to capture the extent to which we are equitably distributing our discretionary grant dollars. The majority of the new questions pertain to the people predominantly served by the project for which funding is being requested.

We are asking our nonprofit partners to identify who is benefiting from the services and programs that they are providing. One question provides four racial/ethnic categories to choose from, as well as categories for people with disabilities or members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Two additional questions involve the leadership of the organization, specifically the race/ethnicity of the executive director/lead volunteer and the organization’s board officers.

While we strive to keep our application concise, we believe that these few additional questions will provide us the information we need to do our part in making sure our community is more equitably funded.

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DANIELLE JOHNSON Senior Director, Grants and Programs

GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

W H A T ’S H A P P E N I N G

01 GED INFORMATION FAIR In January and February, we collaborated with the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County to host in-person and virtual GED Information Fairs in partnership with the Onondaga County Public Library. Many people interested in getting their GED® attended to hear from GED adult education providers and learn about the programs available in Onondaga County. Participating organizations such as OCM BOCES, SUNY EOC, Syracuse City School District and Northside Learning Center were also on site to share resources and register participants for programs.

03 PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS On March 7, our LeadSafeCNY initiative hosted its seventh participatory budgeting session at the Northside Learning Center.

The participatory budgeting project is a powerful civic tool that gives residents most affected by an issue the power to decide how to spend funds to address that community need. Through this nine-month process, residents have learned about childhood lead poisoning, generated ideas for solutions, and collaboratively developed proposals that will go to a communitywide vote on May 2 online and at the Salt City Market. During the March 7 session, nonprofit organizations presented their proposals and the residents engaged in some preliminary democratic deliberation.

The winning proposal will be funded up to $150,000 from our LeadSafeCNY initiative.

02 RECOGNIZING THE NATIONAL DAY OF RACIAL HEALING To celebrate the National Day of Racial Healing, we partnered with three other regional community foundations to host a virtual event featuring New York Times best-selling author and economist Heather McGhee. Her bestseller, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper, is a look at the true cost of racism — not just for people of color, but for everyone. The webinar-style event drew more than 1,000 attendees from across the state who joined to hear what McGhee learned from interviewing Americans of all races during her journey across the country.

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CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

GRANTEE STORY

UPSTATE FOUNDATION The Golisano Center for Special Needs-AccessCNY Sensory Movement Exploration Center

Pictured: Andy with his parents

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GIVING VOICE - SPRING 2023

Andy is the second child of Nicole, an occupational therapist, and Nick Cortes, a physical therapist. The Syracuse couple quickly realized Andy was not gaining weight or developing strength and movement the way his sister, Evelyn, had four years earlier.

At age 3, he was diagnosed with athetoid cerebral palsy, a condition characterized by atypical, involuntary movement. “His arms, his legs are extra tight,” Andy’s mother said.

“He has a hard time holding up his body and his neck.”

Key to building Andy’s physical independence is using technology to help him interact, said Dr. Nienke Dosa, developmental pediatrician at the Golisano Center for Special Needs, SUNY Upstate Medical University.

The first time 4-year-old Andy Cortes tried out a power wheelchair at the Golisano Center for Special NeedsAccessCNY Sensory Movement Exploration Center, his mother left the facility in tears. “It’s the first time I felt hope,” Nicole Cortes said. “I saw him use a chair and realized that he has some independence. We want him to be as normal as possible within his environment.”

Children can use a joystick to control a wheelchair, for example. “He should be able to control where he goes,” said Dr. Dosa, who treats Andy and is AccessCNY’s medical director. “Giving children the ability to move by technology is important in early brain development. It sets the scaffolding for further learning.”

A Community Grant to the Upstate Foundation for the construction of the center was used to renovate the former gym at AccessCNY and purchase equipment that promotes physical activity and wellness for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Having a space like this exposes the wider community to adaptive sports and inclusive recreation,” said Dr. Dosa. “Fostering this engagement both improves life for the child

who uses the assistive technology and provides parents, families and community members with purpose and appreciation of multiple forms of ability.”

Dr. Dosa explained that the center has equipment and activities that cannot be found elsewhere in the community. This includes pediatric power wheelchairs, partial weight support systems, sensory swings, vibration plates, a climbing wall and a sensory pathway with an interactive “village” that features an Erie Canal lock and the Adirondacks forest.

“It’s freeing to be in this space,” she said.

“Parents love to see their children here. It links the medical piece and therapy piece with community resources to continue wellness and recreation. Like a village, this is a place that brings people together.”

On a recent visit, Andy whizzed around on a toddler-size power wheelchair, climbed the rock wall and touched nearly everything along the sensory pathway.

“He gets to decide where he wants to go,” Nick Cortes said. “In just two sessions, he’s moving around and maneuvering through things. It gives us huge hope that there is a great future for him.”

TO DATE, THE UPSTATE FOUNDATION HAS SUCCESSFULLY PILOTED FOUR GROUP THERAPY PROGRAMS AT THE CENTER AND HOSTED A WELLATTENDED DAYLONG REGIONAL WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND. Top Right: Andy and his mother walk along the accessible sensory pathway at the center, built with triple-ply cardboard

by Connor McGough, lead designer with Arise Adaptive Design, and local volunteers. The eco-friendly, cost-effective and lightweight material was easy for volunteers of all ages and abilities to maneuver and paint.

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CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNIT Y FOUNDATION

OUR PEOPLE: NEW BOARD MEMBERS ANNOUNCEMENTS STAFF PROMOTIONS COMMUNICATIONS JULIET MALOFF was promoted to Senior Communications Officer

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT ELISIA GONZALES was promoted to Grants Manager

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION GERIANNE CORRADINO, SHRM-CP was promoted to Human Resources and Operations Officer

WARREN HILTON, ED.D

LEYLA Z. MORGILLO, CFP®

Warren Hilton, Ed.D, is the president of Onondaga Community College and formerly served as the vice president of enrollment management and student affairs at Kutztown University. He earned his Doctor of Education from Drexel University and his Master of Arts in student affairs in higher education and Bachelor of Science in computer science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Hilton is the immediate past board chair of the HealthSpark Foundation, and previously served on the board of the Lehigh Valley Red Cross and as a member of the Minsi Trail Boy Scouts Urban Scouting initiative.

Leyla Z. Morgillo, CFP® is a Financial Planner at Madison Financial Planning Group who has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Leyla received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and International Relations magna cum laude from Syracuse University. She holds the CFP™ certification and is the treasurer of the Financial Planning Association of Central New York, having recently finished her term as president. Leyla received national recognition by Investment News as one of their 40 under 40 honorees.

NEW BE&E FUND COUNCIL MEMBERS

DANA FIEL was promoted to Finance Manager

JENNY GREEN was promoted to Senior Information Systems Officer

LIZ HARTMAN was promoted to Senior Director of Finance

STAFF UPDATE FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION KIMBERLY SADOWSKI was welcomed back to serve as Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

SHAWNI DAVIS

CHRISTOPHER MONTGOMERY

Shawni Davis is the founder and CEO of Luminary Electrical. The Southside native is the first Black woman to become a master electrician in New York state. She started as an apprentice in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 15 years ago and worked her way into leadership positions within the ranks of the largest union contractors on major projects all over the Northeast.

Shawni received a 2022 Champions of Diversity Award from the YWCA of Syracuse & Onondaga County Inc. Also, in April 2022 her business was named Onondaga County Small Business of the Year by the Small Business Development Centers. In October 2022, Shawni introduced President Joe Biden at Onondaga Community College during a Micron Technology event. In March 2023, President Biden talked about Shawni’s journey at the SBA’s Women’s Business Summit at the White House.

Christopher Montgomery is the director of Syracuse Build. Christopher provides key support to Syracuse Build as it aims to create a robust and inclusive construction workforce pipeline in Syracuse. This work is being done in preparation for upcoming employment opportunities associated with unprecedented levels of local construction and development projects. He previously worked as staff assistant and program coordinator at the SUNY Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center (Syracuse EOC).

Christopher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business, management and economics. He also serves on several boards of directors, including Blueprint 15, and Peace, Inc., and he serves as chairperson of the Syracuse Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.

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UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES Join us for our exciting events and workshops this year! To register, visit: CNYCF.ORG/EVENTS

EVENTS JUNE 8, 2023 | 4:00PM – 7:00PM

Community Event

Peter Dunn Farewell Reception Nonprofit Event

JUNE 27, 2023 | 9:00AM – 11:00AM

NEWS - Introduction To Grantwriting AUGUST 18, 2023 | 5:00PM – 7:00PM

Community Event

Black Equity & Excellence Fund Social OCTOBER 5, 2023 | 8:00AM – 10:00AM

Advisor Event

Annual Professional Advisor Continuing Education Seminar | Featuring Tiffany House

GRANT DEADLINES JUNE 15, 2023

Women’s Fund of Central New York JULY 7, 2023

Black Equity & Excellence Fund JULY 7, 2023

The Leadership Classroom JULY 15, 2023

Oswego County Community Foundation

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If you do not wish to continue receiving our mailings, please email us at: info@cnycf.org.

BOARD MEMBERS

PRESIDENT & CEO

LISA DUNN ALFORD

PETER A. DUNN

CATHERINE BERTINI KARIN SLOAN DELANEY, ESQ.

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION KIMBERLY P. SADOWSKI, CPA

DANIEL J. FISHER

Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

STEPHEN D. FOURNIER

ELIZABETH T. HARTMAN, CPA

KATE FELDMEIER FRANZ

Senior Director of Finance

MARK A. FULLER, CPA

JENNY E. GREEN

SUSAN FURTNEY, MPH, FACHE LEE GAT TA, CLU , CHFC , AEP ®

®

CAROLYN D. GERAKOPOULOS BEA GONZÁLEZ DAREN C. JAIME JOSEPH LAZZARO, CFP ®, CLU ® DR. EMAD RAHIM, PPMP, OMCP, CSM, CM, CKF, CCPM REBECCA BRONFEIN RAPHAEL

Senior Information Systems Officer

GERIANNE P. CORRADINO, SHRM-CP

MARTIN A. SCHWAB, ESQ.

Senior Director of Grants and Programs

DARRELL D. BUCKINGHAM

Program Officer

QIANA WILLIAMS

Program Officer

COLBY CYRUS

Program Manager

ELISIA GONZALEZ

Grants Manager

Human Resources & Operations Officer

YEISHA NÚÑEZ-DENSON

Accountant

DANA FIEL

Finance Manager

DAVONA LAWRENCE

Finance Associate

TERRI M. EVANS

Administrative Associate

CAERESA RICHARDSON, PMP KEVIN E. SCHWAB

FRANK M. RIDZI, PHD

Vice President of Community Investment

DANIELLE M. JOHNSON

WILLIAM H. BROWER III

®

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT

DEVELOPMENT THOMAS M. GRIFFITH, AEP ® , CAP ® , CHFC ®

Vice President of Development

COMMUNICATIONS KATRINA M. CROCKER

Vice President of Communications

JULIET R. MALOFF

Senior Communications Officer

CORY SCHAD

Senior Events & Communications Manager

SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENT SUPPORT AHMEED H. TURNER

MONICA M. MERANTE, CAP ®

Vice President of Scholarships & Student Support; Executive Director of Say Yes Syracuse

JAN L. LANE, CAP ®

Officer of Scholarships & Student Support, Say Yes Syracuse

GENERAL COUNSEL

Senior Director of Philanthropic Services

MARY ANNE CODY, ESQ.

Senior Philanthropic Advisor

PRAGYA S. MURPHY, MBA, CAP ®

Senior Philanthropic Advisor

SUNDAY KULANG

Development Associate

A PUBLICATION OF THE CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

DANA E. LYONS-CANTY