Vermont Community Foundation 2018 Annual Report

2018 ANNUAL REPORT

Letter from the President and Chair of the Board The landscape of philanthropy is changing.

Nationally, donor trends are increasingly focused on mission and impact investing, intergenerational relationship management, and an active interest in finding ways to address a glaring gap in opportunity. In particular, the disparity of available opportunities and resources—felt most acutely among those disadvantaged by race, gender, class, and region—represents a civic, social, and economic crisis in Vermont and across the country.

At the Vermont Community Foundation, we’ve embraced the hard work needed to close the opportunity gap with a sense of urgency. This dynamic challenge demands new tools and new approaches, including a deeper level of community engagement, ever stronger funding partnerships, and more creative solutions to deploying charitable capital and mission investments.

Within these pages, you’ll find stories of hope rooted in towns and regions throughout the state. We’re proud that our work is intensely place-based, informed by the voices of the diversity of people in communities all over Vermont, from Springfield to Bennington to the Northeast Kingdom. As a statewide organization, we trust that the Community Foundation feels like home for all our stakeholders, and in particular that the ways in which your valued resources have been allocated resonates with you.

We hope this report inspires you for the coming year, and we look forward to continuing to partner with you. Thank you for all you do to make this work so meaningful.

Dan Smith, President & CEO

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Meg Seely, Board Chair

Dan and Meg met with Springfield High School students planning a new youth center in town.

The students engage with community members of all ages to ensure success and involve middle school students to foster the next group of champions for this project. Their work is carried out largely as a part of their elective “Community Action Class” and with the help of a teacher and the director of the local afterschool program. “The Space” is scheduled to open in July 2019.

Pictured above left to right: Jordan Noyes, Meg Seely, Dan Smith, Cole Haymon, Faraz Ahmad, Richie Ryan, Natalia Dorcely, and Chris Lievense.

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Let’s Grow Kids

Contents Opportunity Gap . . . . . . 4-7 J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation . . . . . . 8 Northeast Kingdom Fund . . 10

Finding affordable, accessible, high-quality child care in Vermont is tough for parents.

So is opening a new child care center,

which is why even seasoned early educators financial support and technical assistance

Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth

Read more on page 12.

In late 2018, the newly established

like Amber Bollman of West Burke need from Let’s Grow Kids.

Opportunity Fund for Southshire

The Curtis Fund . . . . . . . 12 Let’s Grow Kids . . . . . . . 14 High Meadows Fund . . . . . 16 Addison Community Athletics Foundation . . . . . 18 Samara Fund . . . . . . . . . 20 Vermont Women’s Fund . . . 22 Our Fundholders . . . . . . . 24 Attorneys, Accountants, and Advisors . . . . . . . . . 28 Financials . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Board & Staff . . . . . . . . . 33

Highlights

Youth awarded $21,343 in grants to

Vermont Women’s Fund

six organizations. The fund supports

for Girls changes the lives of young

and Woodford. The Community

computer programming and technology.

three years of grantmaking with

organizations supported in 2018 by the

committed to raising $500,000 in the

economic security of women and girls.

fund makes at least $20,000 in annual

dynamic and innovative youth

programs in Bennington, North

Vermont Technical College’s Coder Camp

Bennington, Pownal, Shaftsbury,

women, opening their eyes to careers in

Foundation will support the first

The summer camp is just one of 15

$20,000 annually. The Foundation is

Vermont Women’s Fund to improve the

next several years to ensure that the

Read more on page 22.

grants in perpetuity. Over time, the

goal is to grow the fund to $1 million and more than double the annual

grants. Learn more at vermontcf.org/ Southshire

Total Contributions to the Foundation

$57 Million

Curtis Fund Addison Community Athletics Foundation

ACAF’s Tiger Tennis Club is a fun way for

participating youth to stay focused on selfimprovement—on and off the court.

Read more on page 16.

Amy Lewis thought her dyslexia

made going to college impossible. A Curtis Fund scholarship helped the mother of two and first-generation

college student graduate from CCV— with a 4.0 GPA—and she now works at VSAC helping other students pursue their own dreams.

Read more on page 10.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Partnering with the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust Rob Katz and Elana Amsterdam want their philanthropy to

be a catalyst for eliminating

the stigma of mental illness,

increasing access to behavioral and mental health care, and

improving the quality of care for all in communities where Vail Resorts operates. In

2018, the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust partnered

The Year in Numbers Grants Awarded:

with the Vermont Community

Foundation to invest $125,423

in mental and behavioral health organizations committed to

serving mountain communities in and around Stowe, Okemo, and Mount Sunapee resorts.

The Foundation is excited

2,819

to leverage its resources

$18.1 Million

and community knowledge

to support Rob and Elana’s

extraordinary efforts to nurture individual and community wellness.

Overall Grantmaking

14% Community Benefit and Economic Development . . . . . . . . 15% Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28% Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23% Health and Human Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14% Other Grantmaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8% Arts, Culture, and Humanities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Total Funds: 824 2018 Annual Report

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The

Opportunity Gap

A

t the Vermont Community Foundation,

other can help build bright, secure futures for everyone.

we’ve made closing the opportunity gap

And philanthropy has a critical role to play. By working to

the heart of our work. That’s why we’re

narrow the opportunity gap, we can help communities

so intent on providing access for every

provide vibrant places for youth to grow up, boost eco-

Vermonter to Early Care & Learning, Support for Youth &

nomic growth, help to create a talented and well-trained

Families, College & Career Training, and Community &

workforce, reverse current public health trends, and

Economic Vitality.

reduce public assistance needs.

We believe that by embracing these four critical areas of

To enable and accelerate the promising work of our four

focus we can make significant progress in Vermont, where

focus areas, we’ve aligned a significant portion of our

46,000 working families—nearly one in four—don’t earn

time, energy, and discretionary resources behind three

enough money to make ends meet and many Vermonters

strategies we believe will make a meaningful difference:

lack access to high-quality education and to meaning-

grantmaking, mission investing, and deep community

ful training and job prospects. That’s a big part of why

engagement.

Vermont kids who are born in the bottom 20% economic bracket have no better than a one-in-10 chance of ad-

Working together, we can identify and fund community

vancing to the top 20% in their lifetimes.

projects, build partnerships for change, and create sustainable opportunities so that every person’s—and every

We can do better. The social fabric that knits us to each

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The Vermont Community Foundation

community’s—potential can be fully realized.

Grantmaking Thanks to many generous contributors, more than $18 million in grants flowed through the Vermont Community Foundation in 2018.

These grants were recommended by our fundholders, our supporting organizations, and our locally guided committees, and they represent Vermont and Vermonters at their best, bringing people and resources together to make a difference.

The philanthropic leadership that the Community Foundation brings to the state is exemplified in our discretionary grantmaking, and three of our grant programs are designed to directly address the opportunity gap: Spark, Regional and Local Impact (RALI), and Cornerstone Partnerships.

“Partnering with the Community Foundation in new ways allows us to connect local programs, community initiatives, and statewide systems for greater impact.”

—Holly Morehouse Executive Director Vermont Afterschool

Spark funds small grants that can make a big difference as we aim to build social capital—the connective tissue of our communities—across the state. RALI grants feature homegrown projects that serve the specific needs of a local population through high levels of community engagement and collaboration. Cornerstone Partnership grants take to the next level the work of

growing statewide organizations that are tightly aligned with closing the opportunity gap.

Every grant is a highlight; here are just a few.

• The Spark grant for the Magic Mountain Children’s Center in South Royalton nurtures multi-generational connections for children who grow vegetables and flowers—and then share their harvest with residents of a low-income, elderly housing development.

• For Umbrella, the RALI grant given to its Cornucopia program provides women from the Northeast Kingdom who have experienced barriers to employment—including trauma, addiction, food and housing insecurity, and incarceration—with hands-on culinary training and job placement assistance.

• And, we’re grateful for our Cornerstone Partnership collaboration with Vermont Afterschool, a statewide nonprofit that engages Vermont students in active learning beyond the school day.

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Investing in Vermont Almost two decades ago, we were one of the first community foundations in the country to directly invest a percentage of our assets to support communities through what we called the Vermont Investment Pool. Today, these mission investments—working in tandem with our grantmaking program—act as catalysts within communities where the opportunity gap is particularly acute.

Our mission investments support historically undercapitalized regions of the state while providing a financial return that continues to exceed its benchmark.

To more closely align mission investing with our work to narrow the opportunity gap, we’ve recently focused the Vermont Investment Pool on two primary strategies: revitalizing Vermont downtowns and encouraging mission-driven entrepreneurship across the state. We’re working closely with employers, economic development organizations, and downtown revitalization experts to make this happen. We’re also partnering with trusted co-investors who can inject much-needed capital for mission-aligned projects.

For example, in 2018 we made a significant investment in the Putnam Block (pictured), a major downtown revital-

ization project in Bennington. We also invested in Working Fields, a growing mission-based temporary staffing agency that hires and supports individuals in recovery from substance abuse.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Community Engagement For many years, the grantmaking staff at Vermont Community Foundation has prioritized the local knowledge and expertise of residents around the state. Whether with the Samara Fund, the Vermont Women’s Fund, or grant rounds in specific towns or regions, we work with committees of dedicated Vermonters who help us read applications and guide decision-making.

Over $1 million of grants in 2018 was advised by neighbors and community members to best determine the project and programs that would serve the needs of their community.

But with the opportunity gap focus, we are taking community engagement even further.

We are engaging more deeply with communities in places where the opportunity gap is felt most acutely in the state, and where fewer philanthropic resources are available..

Our staff are on the ground, listening and learning from communities, which—combined with our more than 30 years of philanthropic-advising expertise—puts us in a strong position to advise our fundholders on how they can support community-generated projects. The great ideas that emerge from community processes, such as Vermont Council on Rural Development’s (VCRD) Community Visit work, are often the starting point for home-grown solutions in which we become involved over the long term with either grants, investments, or both. For example: • With the VCRD “ReNewport Community Visit” series, we learned from Newport community members that building recreation trails and conserving land was a priority in their effort to revitalize the area. In response, we made a grant to the Vermont Land Trust for the Bluffside Recreation Trail project, which will expand recreational activities on the 129-acre lakefront farm and encourage economic growth for the area through tourism.

• In Springfield, we heard clearly from residents of all ages that having a youth center is an important factor in showing youth that they matter to their community. Therefore we are supporting the development of the center—conceived by students in a Springfield High School civics class—to create dedicated space for youth activities that doubles as a gathering spot for the entire community.

• And in Bennington County, in addition to the Putnam Block investment we made, we also established the Opportunity Fund for Southshire Youth as an ongoing revenue source for dynamic and innovative youth programs in response to the call for funding for projects that engage youth in a way that promotes community pride and promise.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation When Cecil went to prison, his prospects seemed bleak until he was given the opportunity to pursue one of his childhood dreams.

“As a kid, I always envisioned going to college, but I never thought that I would have the chance to attend until I was introduced to CCV while incarcerated,” says Cecil. In 2018, the Community Foundation and six of its donor advisors joined the McClure Foundation’s lead to

Inmates at Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport can take free college courses, and the early outcomes have been impressive.

Every student in the first cohort completed the initial courses offered, and continued their studies with declared majors.

Cecil was recently released from prison, and he credits the CCV classes with helping him to repair relationships, especially with his oldest daughter who also is a college student.“It has given us a connection that I thought would take so much longer to accomplish,” says Cecil.

“We sit down and talk for hours about just school and the same classes that we have taken. My mother is so proud that I have used my time while incarcerated to change my life and do the right thing.”

Despite logistical and technological challenges, including limited access to the internet and computers to type papers, plus the requirement that all coursework be vetted by the Department of Corrections, ReSET instructor Heather Weinstein (pictured) says students have thrived.

“For the first time in my 20-plus years of teaching, every single student did the required reading and submitted every single assignment,” says

Photo courtesy of Jade Premont

Heather. “This experience has transformed the way the inmates—now students—think about the world and, most importantly, it’s changed the way they think about themselves.”

ReSET VT is one of over a dozen programs and system-level efforts funded by the McClure Foundation in 2018 that make college and career-training

The McClure Foundation is promoting access to postsecondary and career education.

fund the Community College of Vermont’s (CCV) ReSET VT program.

pathways more accessible, more visible, and more affordable for youth and adults in every county in Vermont.

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Northeast Kingdom Fund When the Albany General Store burned six years ago, the community lost its place of gathering to catch up over coffee.

Patronage at the Albany Public Library, which is housed next door in back of the Town Hall, also dwindled after the fire. The buildings once bookended a strong sense of community for the 1000+ geographically divided residents on an otherwise empty most services are 20 miles away.

Librarian Kristin Urie realized the town couldn’t wait any longer for the rebuilding of the general store to bring people back. The library needed to take the lead in cultivating more community connection, knowing that rural families with young children often feel more isolated, especially in the winter. She began championing a grassroots effort to reinstate a place of gathering.

“We’re a services desert,” says Kristin. “You either have to go to Newport or Morrisville, even for mental health services. It makes it even more important that we have a strong community fabric and that there’s a place where families can come and share stories or reach out to each other for help or advice.”

In 2018, the Albany Public Library received a grant from the Northeast Kingdom Fund to hire a skilled facilitator to oversee the new Winter Play Space stocked with balls, mats, toys, and books, creating a fun, warm, and safe place for families to play all winter.

It drew regulars from as far north as Irasburg. “It’s just as important for the kids to socialize with each other as it is for the adults. I think it saves a lot of us from going into a deep dark depression,” says Facilitator Gillian Boutin. The successful program led to other community gatherings like Zumba, yoga, and free soup events, and brought more people into the library to check out books.

“The library is coming to life in a new way. It feels like it has a life of its own. The time is right for the community to reclaim the library and reclaim it as a community space,” says Kristin as the library’s open flag flaps outside like a strong, steady heartbeat.

Now with the library in full swing and the general store being rebuilt, the town will soon have its bookends back.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Since its inception, the NEK Fund has granted almost $450,000 to organizations in the region.

main street where cars clock 50 miles per hour through town and

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The Vermont Community Foundation

The Curtis Fund For years, Amy Lewis shrugged off advice from her colleagues at a K-12 school, where she spent 20 years working as a secretary. They told Amy she should go to college because a degree would help her earn the wages she deserved. Yet Amy was afraid, and she worried her learning disability—dyslexia—would make a college education impossible.

At 38, Amy enrolled at the Community College of Vermont with a scholarship from the Curtis Fund, which provided her with both financial aid and a much-needed vote of confidence. “By receiving a Curtis Fund scholarship, I felt that someone believed in me; someone thought I was important and deserving. I did not take this lightly,” said Amy. “I am a college was a possibility.”

Within a few years, she’d earned an AS and BA with a 4.0 grade point average, and at 45, she completed a master’s degree. That same year, Amy’s daughter, also a Curtis Fund scholar, graduated from Castleton College. And today, Amy works as an Outreach and GUIDE Counselor at VSAC, showing other students the path to furthering their own education.

The Curtis Fund got its start when Emma Eliza Curtis left $120,000 in trust following her death in 1910, asking that the money be used to provide financial assistance to men and women pursuing postsecondary education. That seed money has grown to more than $30 million, and annually the Curtis Fund grants between $1.4 and $1.75 million in scholarships to around 500 students who are facing challenges accessing a postsecondary education. The fund aims to ensure that every Vermonter has the opportunity to achieve the education and training they need to thrive, regardless of family background, income level, or birthplace.

In 2018, the Curtis Fund became a supporting organization at the Vermont Community Foundation. With 107 years of giving under its belt, the Curtis Fund now looks to the next century of meeting Vermonters’ needs, focusing on growing both its endowment and the kinds of learning it supports. Last year the fund began a pilot project to fund students pursuing non-degree credentials in fields like welding, bookkeeping, and

Annually funding around $1.5 million in scholarships for college and career training

first-generation college student and wanted to show my two children that

early childcare—another way to support education that helps Vermonters lead fulfilling and financially secure lives.

Photo of Amy Lewis courtesy of VSAC

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Let’s Grow Kids When Amber Bollman considered opening a child care program in her West Burke home, the seasoned early educator worried about filling spaces and finding the resources needed to start her own business. She’d worked in a child care center for 12 years and loved spending her days with young children, but she wasn’t earning a livable wage.

Starting her own program wasn’t easy, and Amber says she wouldn’t have been able to do it without financial support and technical assistance from Let’s Grow Kids (LGK). When she opened her child care program last year,

Amber’s story is representative of the on-the-ground work LGK undertook in 2018 with the Make Way for Kids program to increase access to highquality child care in Vermont. The program provides funding and technical assistance to help passionate early educators start up, expand, and/or increase the quality of child care programs.

Finding child care in Vermont can be nightmarish; an estimated 51 percent of Vermont infants and toddlers likely to need care don’t have access to regulated child care at all, and 77 percent don’t have access to high-quality care. Quality programs like Amber’s are especially needed in rural areas of the state, but for the past several years, the number of new programs opening has been declining.

With generous support from donors, LGK is investing $1.7M in grants and technical assistance—and partnering with local communities—to create 1,300 high-quality child care spaces for Vermont’s children through Make Way for Kids. More than 500 of those spaces have already come online.

LGK leverages philanthropy to increase high-quality child care now and, simultaneously, is mobilizing Vermonters to demand policy change to sustain a high-quality system of care into the future. Bringing parents, employers, lawmakers, and early educators to the table, LGK is asking the question: How can we, together, solve Vermont’s child care crisis?

High-quality child care gives kids the foundation to thrive in school, work, and life; allows families to pursue meaningful work; and gives Vermont employers access to a robust workforce. If Vermont can get child care right, this state can be the best place in the country to raise a family.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Ensuring access to high-quality, affordable child care for all Vermont children and families

it filled up immediately—she’s booked until the fall of 2021.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

The High Meadows Fund If you visit the Peter Coe Village Apartments in Middlebury, owned by the nonprofit Housing Vermont, you might hear from residents about the energy efficiency and the free WiFi they enjoy. But you will also learn about the raised-bed community garden, the mentoring and enrichment programming for children, and other investments that bring the community together. You can also find lush gardens and hear parallel stories at the Hickory Street neighborhood in Rutland (pictured), and at other affordable

How is Housing Vermont able to build such healthy, stable, and resourcerich environments? The answer, in part, is an unexpected one: a new energy performance monitoring system called the Parsons Platform.

The Parsons Platform pulls data from building management systems, HVAC components, electrical panels, and other devices to provide real-time snapshots of how buildings operate. Through the Platform, Housing Vermont can remotely access precise, up-to-the-minute data to make smart decisions about the most efficient ways to heat and power its 180 developments.

For the Peter Coe Village Apartments, the Parsons Platform’s data monitoring revealed that the water pumps in the district heating plant were set too high, leading to unnecessarily high electricity use. The Platform has helped to optimize the boiler system, and has identified ways to save on fuel and unneeded equipment at many other properties. Leveraging the technology means Housing Vermont can reduce rents and spend more on the things it knows make a community thrive—like community gardens and mentorship programs.

Since 2013, the High Meadows Fund has supported Housing Vermont in its effort to develop the Parsons Platform. In 2017 and 2018, High Meadows granted $145,000 for Housing Vermont to engage other nonprofit affordable housing developers, both in Vermont and across the country, to start using the platform to lower their residents’ energy costs and offer vital programming.

The High Meadows Fund works for a future in which Vermont is more resilient and equitable. Programs like the Parsons Platform illustrate High

Always championing a healthy environment and economic vitality for Vermonters

properties owned by Housing Vermont throughout the state.

Meadows’ goal to ensure that all Vermonters, regardless of income, share in the benefits of clean and efficient energy.

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Addison Community Athletics Foundation Tennis improves concentration, raises self-esteem, and helps players break through perceived mental barriers both on and off the court. Yet, at its core, tennis is a game that’s a joy to play, and participants develop foundational skills that can lead to a lifetime of fun on the court.

The Addison Community Athletics Foundation (ACAF) promotes athletic activity and wellness by supporting tennis and health education programs for youth and adults. In 2018, ACAF funded the Tiger Tennis Club, which offers 7th tennis at no cost at Middlebury Indoor Tennis (MIT).

Tennis pros and high school mentors teach the mechanics—and the fun— of the game, but the program also develops the whole child. The Tiger Tennis Club brings in partners like Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op to teach nutritional health, and incorporates emotional wellness exercises like discussing the students’ highlights and low points of the week.

“All teens struggle in some aspects of their lives, but the wonderfully uplifting thing about the Tiger Tennis Club is that it gives these young players an opportunity to feel successful,” says Heather Potter, one of the tennis pros at MIT. “They can leave all the baggage elsewhere and just have fun hitting the ball.”

Participant Anya Hardy-Mittell says she has always felt “unathletic” but that tennis clicked for her in a way that other sports haven’t. Playing as a team of one makes it easier for Anya to get motivated because she can focus on self-improvement and doesn’t feel the pressure of having other people relying on her.

“Tennis takes a lot of mental composure,” says Drew Kiernan, a program mentor and high school senior. In fact, his tennis experience has helped him improve in the classroom. Instead of getting frustrated by a poor grade on a recent math test, he used the same mental composure developed on the court to boost his math skills. And he got an “A” on the next test.

ACAF has partnered with many schools and local organizations to increase access to tennis in Addison County and hopes to introduce the sport to many more in the coming years.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Promoting community health and vitality through tennis, collaboration, and community

to 9th graders from all socio-economic backgrounds the opportunity to play

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The Samara Fund Isolation poses a substantial challenge to building community, especially for those who already experience significant marginalization.

Vermont, which leads the country with the greatest concentration of rural residents, also has the sixth-highest proportion (5.2%) of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults.

The Samara Fund fosters connections with organizations that serve LGBTQ communities throughout the state. It supports life-changing experiences that promote feelings of connectedness and identity youth who often face deeper feelings of isolation. In 2018, the Samara Fund awarded 15 grants, including one to Burlington-based Outright Vermont, an organization that collaborates with LGBTQ communities statewide to offer Friday Night Groups for LGBTQ youth.

Outright Vermont also hosts a a six-day residential camp held every summer at Common Ground Center in Starksboro.“Part of what is hard for queer and trans youth, especially in a rural state like Vermont, is isolation,” says Outright’s Executive Director Dana Kaplan. “You’ve got isolation based on your identity on top of isolation based on your geographic location.”

Camp Outright welcomes all at-risk LGBTQ youth, including queer and trans youth of color and trans femme youth. Gender-liberated spaces and cabins selected by gender identity don’t force youth to choose in a way that doesn’t include them. Throughout the week, campers and staff leave each other little messages of affirmation in a “Heck Yeah Bag” that each camper takes home as a reminder of self-worth.

“Your internal sense of belonging and connection is the best suicide prevention,” adds Dana. “So much of what queer and trans youth are having to do on a daily basis is navigate a world that either doesn’t include them or tells them that who they are is wrong. When you get a week in a supportive community, it’s really transformational.”

The Samara Fund’s philanthropy supports deep dives like this into identity affirmation for rural LGBTQ youth and adults, and it upholds a critical position of funding for LGBTQ communities across the state.

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The Vermont Community Foundation

The Samara Fund has distributed over $350,000 to LGBTQ individuals and organizations.

affirmation, which is especially important for rural LGBTQ adults and

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The Vermont Women’s Fund The energy and enthusiasm of the 15 girls, ranging in age from 10 to 16, was positively radiating across the Davis Center at the University of Vermont as they listened to Reshma Saujani—the charismatic founder and CEO of Girls Who Code—deliver the keynote address at the Vermont Women’s Fund annual celebration.

Avid coders, the girls practice on Saturdays with UVM graduate students and Lisa Dion, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science. Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology and

The Vermont Women’s Fund has been a catalyst for empowering women and girls in Vermont for 25 years. In 2018, one of the programs it supported was Vermont Technical College’s Coder Camp for Girls, a day camp designed for middle and high school girls interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and technical fields. Campers learn from Vermont Tech faculty and student counselors who have extensive software development and coding experience.

“Attending camp opens girls’ eyes to potential careers that historically have been male-dominated, especially for those coming from families without scientific or technical backgrounds, those who haven’t yet pursued STEM courses in school, and those who lack mentors who look like them,” says Laurel Butler, the STEM and entrepreneurial outreach business advisor at Vermont Technical College. “Financial support from the Vermont Women’s Fund helps us bridge the economic opportunity gap.”

In 2018, the Women’s Fund awarded more than $100,000 to 15 Vermont organi­ zations that improve economic security for women and girls by supporting a range of goals including entrepreneurship and financial literacy, transitional housing from prison back to local communities, job skills for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, careers in healthcare, and employment opportunities for low-income single mothers.

“Working with young women to open doors to new opportunities and career paths is incredibly energizing,” says Meg Smith, the director of the Vermont Women’s Fund. “Among the challenges and constraints that women and girls face in our state day-to-day, we also look into the future to help girls dream bigger and be successful in the 21st century workforce.”

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Supporting the advancement and economic equality of Vermont women and girls

changing the image of what a programmer looks like and does.

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FUND FUNDHOLDER

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The Vermont Community Foundation

Our Fundholders:

Lifting up Future Generations Chris and Fred Pratt, both former teachers, got in the habit of making charitable contributions even when there wasn’t much to give. “It was always just something we felt we should do—a natural impulse,” says Fred.

As educators working in Providence, Rhode Island, they began by donating to schools and colleges.

As their giving developed, they

took their own tack to reducing the

immigrants; funds need-based

opportunity gap by supporting all

scholarships for college students

types of learners, including children

with special consideration for first-

(especially girls), adults (especially

generation and immigrant students;

women), prisoners, immigrants,

and also emphasizes support

and those who are the first in their

for social justice and economic

families to attend college.

opportunity.

In 1981, out of a desire for a change

When Chris passed away in 2017,

of pace and scenery, the Pratts

Fred decided to devote some of

bought a relative’s old farmhouse in

the resources from the couple’s

South Duxbury, Vermont near where

original fund with the Foundation to

they already owned some land and

establish the Chris Pratt Opportunity

a small cabin on Ward Hill. That

Fund. Designed to honor his wife’s

same year, they lost their daughter,

visionary work as a teacher who

Theresa, in an automobile accident.

always gravitated towards helping

Fred says that after their daughter’s

children with reading difficulties,

tragic death, their giving took on

the fund supports literacy and

new meaning and purpose.

provides educational opportunities for underserved or disadvantaged

To honor Theresa’s memory, the

children, with a hope to open doors

Pratts established an endowed

to greater opportunities for young

scholarship at Tufts University that

children when intervention can be

offers financial assistance for adult

most effective.

learners resuming their education following a disruption—providing

For Fred, working with the

a second chance for those who

Community Foundation gives him

otherwise might not have been able

the ability to manage separate funds

to attend the university.

with very specific purposes, and to get professional advice identifying

The Pratts’ growing desire to help

potential grantees that meet his

students who face barriers to

criteria. And in perpetuity, every

education led to the establishment

time someone from one of those

of the Bisbee Pratt Fund at the

organizations opens an envelope

Community Foundation, which

from the Chris Pratt Opportunity

empowers women and girls;

Fund, they will feel Chris’s passion

promotes literacy and reading for

for education and be forever

children, adults, prisoners, and

connected to her legacy.

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Our Fundholders:

Paying it Forward “To acknowledge privilege is the

evolved from an anonymous donor

and the people it serves what’s

first step in making it available for

to one who regularly visits the

working and what isn’t, and

wider use. Each of us is blessed in

organizations receiving her grants,

what they truly need most to be

some particular way, whether we

she has also progressed in how

successful.

recognize our blessings or not. And

she thinks about her giving and

each one of us, somewhere in our

its impact.

lives, must clear a space within that

Visiting these organizations, in her own words, provides “a window into

blessing where she can call upon

Although she worked as a staff

the lives of folks experiencing what

whatever resources are available to

member at several social service

I cannot imagine: the intractable

her in the name of something that

organizations, it wasn’t until Patricia

insecurities of true hunger,

must be done.” — Audre Lord

revealed herself as a donor and

unavailable shelter, inaccessible

began meeting with executive

safety, uncertain healthcare, and

By her own admission, Patricia

directors and staff that she got a

inescapable persecution because

Fontaine acknowledges she is

sense of what it’s really like to run

of skin color, gender leaning, or

blessed. And she humbly admits

an organization. The challenge and

physical difference.”

that her good fortune was not

pressure of writing grant proposals

earned. There is not a day that

and securing funding, while working

Never one to simply write a check

goes by when she doesn’t thank

persistently to serve a population

and move on, Patricia continues

her father for turning the family’s

which faces extraordinary strain,

to learn how to ensure her giving

construction company into a hugely

is daunting.

has positive impact. She supports

successful business, providing a

a broad range of charitable

legacy of financial support to his

Patricia doesn’t need to be wowed

purposes—with a preference

children and their children.

by fancy board rooms or seasoned

for issues of social justice, the

development directors. She cares

arts, healing modalities, and the

From the outset of her giving in her

how an organization is sustaining

environment—and is constantly

early 30s, Patricia has felt compelled

itself and its staff, who often work

seeking ways she can share the

to pay it forward to those who do

under intense stress. She wants to

resources she has so they might

not share her privilege. As she has

know directly from the organization

better serve others.

26

The Vermont Community Foundation

2018 Annual Report

27

We Appreciate Your Partnership Thank you to the attorneys, financial advisors, and accountants who help the Community Foundation bring together people and resources to make a difference in Vermont.

Central Vermont

Jonathan Bump, Esq. Law Office of Jonathan Bump, Esq. Orwell Leo V. Connolly Edward Jones Braintree Don Devost Marble Trail Financial Middlebury Pamela J. Douglass, CPA McCormack, Guyette & Associates, PC Rutland John E. (Jeff) Fothergill, CPA Fothergill Segale & Valley Montpelier A. Jay Kenlan, Esq. A. Jay Kenlan, Esq., PLLC Rutland Theo Kennedy, JD, MPH Otis & Kennedy, LLC Montpelier Gary W. Lange, Esq. Lange Law Offices Vergennes Malissa Marshall Soaring Wealth LLC Bristol Christine D. Moriarty, CFP MoneyPeace, Inc. Bristol

28

The Vermont Community Foundation

Robert S. Pratt, Esq. Pratt Vreeland Kennelly Martin & White, LTD Rutland Claudia InĂŠs Pringles, Esq. Law Office of Claudia I. Pringles Montpelier Steven E. Schindler, Esq. Schindler Law Office, PLC Rutland M. Brent Sleeper, AIF Granite Financial Group Barre Thomas W. Smith Planned Giving Startup Middlebury Cathy Systo Edward Jones Barre Wallace W. Tapia, CPA Tapia & Huckabay, PC Vergennes Betsy Wolf Blackshaw Law Office of Betsy Wolf Blackshaw Barre Matt Wootten Marble Trail Financial Middlebury

Northeast Kingdom Vermont Stephen P. Marsh Community National Bank Derby

John H. Marshall, Esq. Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC St. Johnsbury James G. Wheeler, Jr., Esq. Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC St. Johnsbury David L. Willis Zuccaro & Willis, P.C. St. Johnsbury Northwest Vermont L. Randolph Amis, Esq. Montroll, Backus & Oettinger, PC Burlington Lucinda M. Bain Morgan Stanley Colchester Ryan J. Bartley Catamount Financial Advisors of Raymond James Burlington Jeanne C. Blackmore, Esq. Gravel & Shea, PC Burlington Norman R. Blais Law Office of Norman R. Blais Burlington Paul D. Briody, CFP Wells Fargo Advisors Burlington Molly Bucci, Esq. Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer Burlington

Jason Cadwell, CPA/PFS, CFP Vermont Pure Financial Shelburne David Carris UBS Financial Services, Inc. South Burlington Albert A. Cicchetti Little & Cicchetti, PC Burlington C. Kirk Clarke, Esq. Clarke Demas & Baker, PLC Burlington Leigh Cole, Esq. Dinse Burlington Nancy K. de Tarnowsky, Esq. Dinse Burlington Charles N. Dinklage, CRPS Sequoia Financial Group Burlington James L. Donohue, CPA, CFP Gallagher, Flynn & Company, LLP South Burlington Jon R. Eggleston, Esq. Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer, PC Burlington George Ewins Ewins, Kowalski & Swett Wealth Management of Raymond James Burlington Omar Mahadeen Graddock Morgan Stanley Stowe Kathryn G. R. Granai, CPA Montgomery & Granai, PC Burlington Glenn A. Jarrett, Esq. Jarrett & Luitjens, PLC South Burlington Richard J. Kowalski Ewins, Kowalski & Swett Wealth Management of Raymond James Burlington Mark Langan, Esq. Dinse Burlington

Mark E. Melendy, Esq. Sheehey Furlong & Behm Burlington Marcia S. Merrill, CPA Montgomery & Granai, PC Burlington David Mickenberg, Esq. Mickenberg, Dunn, Lachs & Smith, PLC Burlington Colleen L. Montgomery, CPA Montgomery & Granai, PC Burlington Daphne Moritz, Esq. Sheehey Furlong & Behm Burlington Emily R. Morrow, Esq. Emily Morrow Executive Consulting Shelburne Brian R. Murphy, Esq. Dinse Burlington Kenneth M. Nussbaum, CPA/PFS, JD K. Nussbaum & Associates Richmond Leigh Keyser Phillips, Esq. Sheehey Furlong & Behm Burlington Hobart Popick, Esq. Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP Burlington Pamela A. Rodriguez Pamela A. Rodriguez, CPA Essex Randall L. Sargent, CPA JMM & Associates Colchester Launa L. Slater, Esq. Jarrett & Luitjens, PLC South Burlington Theresa R. Swett Ewins, Kowalski & Swett Wealth Management of Raymond James Burlington Sarah Gentry Tischler, Esq. Langrock, Sperry & Wool, LLP Burlington Dr. Jane A Van Buren Noonmark Services Burlington

“We work with the Vermont Community Foundation because it has the tools, knowledge, and understanding to align our clients’ philanthropic intent with where the gift will have the maximum impact in the community.”

—James J. Williams, CFP, Williams Financial, LLC

2018 Annual Report

29

Rebecca Walsh Pathway Financial Advisors Burlington

Southern Vermont

Edgar T. Campbell, Esq. Woolmington, Campbell, Bent & Stasny, PC Manchester Center Joseph F. Cook, Esq. Corum Mabie Cook Prodan Angell Secrest & Darrow, PLC Brattleboro David M. Gates, CFP GateHouse Financial Advisors, LLP Manchester Center Susan M. Hill, CPA, CFP Hill & Thompson, PC Manchester Center Thomas H. Jacobs, Esq. Jacobs Law Offices, LLC Bennington Rhonda Peters Lathrop Merrill Lynch Manchester Center L. Raymond Massucco, Esq. Massucco Law Office, PC Bellows Falls Lon T. McClintock, Esq. McClintock Law Office, PC Bennington Brian McKenna D. B. McKenna & Company North Bennington Kevin M. O’Toole, Esq. Law Office of Kevin M. O’Toole, Esq. Dorset Kristin Reed, CPA, CFP Williams Finanicial, LLC Bennington Laurie Rowell Rowell Law PLC Brattleboro Jonathan D. Secrest, Esq. Corum, Mabie, Cook, Prodan, Angell, Secrest & Darrow, PLC Brattleboro

30

The Vermont Community Foundation

Robert Thompson, CPA Hill & Thompson, PC Manchester Center Erik Valdes, Esq. Fitts, Olson & Giddings, PLC Brattleboro James J. Williams, CFP, MBA Williams Financial, LLC Bennington Robert E. Woolmington, Esq. Woolmington, Campbell, Bent & Stasny, PC Manchester Center

Upper Valley Region

(New Hampshire & Vermont) Gary T. Brooks, Esq. Stebbins Bradley, PA Hanover Timothy W. Caldwell, Esq. Caldwell Law Lebanon Holly K. Dustin, Esq. Ledyard Financial Advisors Hanover Ethan Frechette Stebbins Bradley, PA Hanover Susan Otto Goodell, CFP Otto & Associates, Inc. Norwich Nicholas D.N. Harvey, Jr., Esq. Stebbins Bradley, PA Hanover Renee Harvey Caldwell Law Lebanon Eric W. Janson, Esq. Janson & Colgan, PLLC Lebanon Mark E. Melendy, Esq. Sheehey Furlong & Behm Woodstock Willemien Dingemans Miller, Esq. Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC Lebanon

Daphne Moritz, Esq. Sheehey Furlong & Behm Woodstock David W. Otto, CFP Otto & Associates, Inc. Norwich Henry Scheier, CPA, CFP Fine Plan Professional Corp.

White River Junction Fred Wainwright Ledyard Financial Advisors Hanover Eric G. Werner Morgan Stanley Lebanon Thomas P. Wright, Esq. Wright & Reeves, PLC Woodstock

Out of State

Barbara H. Cane, Esq. Cane & Boniface, PC Nyack, New York John Harrington, PhD Harrington Investments, Inc. Napa, California E. Randall Ralston Charlottesville, Virginia Stephen T. Rodd Abbey Spanier LLP New York City, New York Matthew Ryan MSF, CFP GW & Wade, LLC Wellesley, Massachusetts Tom Stransky, CLU, ChFC, CLTC Northwestern Mutual Bedminster, New Jersey David A. Ward, Esq. Ward Legal Group, PC Keene, New Hampshire Robert A. Wells, Esq. McLane Middleton Manchester, New Hampshire

Planned Giving:

Charitable Gift Annuities Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs) are one of several options offered at the Vermont Community Foundation for establishing a fund as part of your legacy planning. Establishing a CGA allows you and/or your beneficiaries to receive a guaranteed income for life, benefit from an immediate income tax deduction, and leave a legacy that will support the causes you care about.

How a CGA works: • We sign a contract with you that outlines the annuity payments to you and the designated or discretionary fund that will be established (or added to) with the remaining annuity assets upon your death.

• You make a gift to the Vermont Community Foundation to fund the contract.

• You receive a quarterly payment that is fixed, regardless of market conditions, for the rest of your life.

“I like the charitable gift annuity (CGA) so much that

• You also receive an immediate tax deduction for the charitable portion

I have 22! I utilize the Vermont

of your gift. Some CGA types allow you to choose to start your annuity

Community Foundation to set

payments now or in the future. The rate we offer increases if your first

up CGAs for small organizations

payment is deferred.

• Upon your death, we establish or add to the fund indicated in your

I support because the Founda-

contract. The remaining assets from your CGA are transferred into

tion is tuned into local needs,

this fund.

and I find the staff very easy

• The Community Foundation provides annual support to nonprofits

to work with.”

in the name of the fund you establish.

—Cheryl Wilfong

2018 Annual Report

31

Financials

as of December 31

ASSETS Cash and Cash Equivalents Investments

2018 2018 (Unaudited)

2017 2017 (Audited)

$12,041,105

$12,961,217

$296,783,672

Other Assets Total Assets

$283,210,688

$13,691,750

$14,328,152

$322,516,527

$310,500,057

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS Grants Payable, Accounts Payable, and Other Liabilities

$2,396,310

$1,485,349

Planned Giving Liabilities

$9,712,255

$10,030,908

$49,917,234

$50,918,604

Total Liabilities

$62,025,799

$62,434,861

Net Assets without Donor Restrictions

$239,039,864

$224,368,350

$21,450,865

$23,696,846

Total Net Assets

$260,490,729

$248,065,196

Total Liabilities and Net Assets

$322,516,527

Funds Held for Nonprofit Organizations

Net Assets with Donor Restrictions

Total Assets (in Millions)

Net Investment Returns (through December 31, 2018) 1 Yr. 3 Yr. 5 Yr. 7 Yr.

10 Yr.

VCF Long-Term Pool

-5.4%

6.4%

4.5%

7.2%

9.0%

VCF Target Benchmark

-5.4%

5.4%

3.6%

6.0%

7.4%

Please visit vermontcf.org/investments

for current investment returns and historical performance.

2018 . . . . . . $323 2017 . . . . . . $311 2016 . . . . . . $252 2015 . . . . . . $224 2014 . . . . . . $215 2013 . . . . . . $192 2012 . . . . . . $167

32

The Vermont Community Foundation

$310,500,057

Staff

Please visit vermontcf.org/staff for the most up-to-date staff list.

Lydia Brownell Senior Fund and Contract Manager Celia Cadwell

Program and Grants Specialist

Brockton Corbett David Rahr Community Philanthropy Fellow Emilye Pelow Corbett, CAP® Philanthropic and Planned Giving Advisor Debra Dabrowski, CPA CFO & Vice President for Finance Hannah Deming Accountant Sarah Daluisio Administrative Associate and Office Manager Stacie Fagan Senior Philanthropic Advisor Kim Haigis Assistant to the President and Events Manager Lori Hancock Assistant Controller

Richard Ruane Information Systems Manager Dan Smith President & CEO Meg Smith Director, The Vermont Women’s Fund Jamie Stone Accountant Sarah Waring Vice President for Grants and Community Investments

Martha Trombley Oakes, CAP® Senior Philanthropic Advisor Zoe Pike Communications Manager Felipe Rivera Vice President for Strategy and Communications & Chief of Staff

Photography:

Sally McCay – page 14

Cat Cutillo – pages 9 and 17 Caleb Kenna – cover, pages 1 and 3 Judd Lamphere (JAM Creative)/VSAC – page 10 Jade Premont – (CCV) page 20 Design: Serena Fox Design Company, Richmond

Board of Directors

Our board of directors consists of community leaders from around the state with diverse professional experience.

The directors are chosen by the Community Foundation’s Members for their sensitivity to and knowledge of the state’s key issues.

Carolyn Dwyer Essex Board Vice-Chair

David Morrissey Controller

Jake Wheeler East Burke

Kevin Wiberg Philanthropic Advisor for Community Engagement

Chelsea Bardot Lewis Senior Philanthropic Advisor

Elisabeth Marx Senior Philanthropic Advisor

Tim Volk Charlotte

Todd Balfour – page 27

Lisa Cashdan

Janet Malcolm Grants Specialist

Will Stevens Shoreham

Carolyn Weir, CAP® Senior Philanthropic Advisor for the McClure Foundation & Program and Grants

Jane Kimble Philanthropy Associate

Laurie Lowy Accountant

Meg Seely Bridgewater Board Chair

Writing: Cat Cutillo, Kathryn Flagg, Mark Ray Illustration on page 4 was inspired by a drawing from the Washington State Board of Education and used with permission.

Norwich

Mark Foley, Jr. Rutland Peter D. Kinder East Dorset Spencer Knapp Shelburne Board Secretary

Pictured on the Cover: Springfield, VT at dusk

Allyson Laackman Burlington Board Treasurer Michael Metz South Burlington Betsy Rathbun-Gunn Sandgate

2018 Annual Report

33

O U R

M I S S I O N

Better Together Inspiring giving and bringing together people and resources to make a difference in Vermont.

O U R

V I S I O N

Vermont at its best; Vermonters at their best.

3 Court Street, Middlebury, VT 05753 vermontcf.org