LaSandra Gaddy, President and CEO
This past year has been pivotal for Grand Rapids Community Foundation.
We celebrated 35+ years of trailblazing leadership from Diana Sieger. We welcomed a new leader and began a new chapter of transformational philanthropic partnerships. Our staff, Board of Trustees and our donor, volunteer, nonprofit and community partners are all excited and engaged as we move into a new century of service and impact.
Our partnerships and investments are making a real difference in Kent County. Together we are working toward a shared vision. However, it is clear there is still much to do to ensure everyone in our region can thrive. We are leaning into tough conversations, embracing uncommon partnerships, challenging the status quo, evaluating and refining our current practices, interrogating new ideas and building trust. As this community’s foundation, we are committed to our mission: to build and manage our community’s permanent endowment and lead the community to strengthen the lives of its people. Together, with partners like you, we aim to create a West Michigan where opportunity, prosperity and belonging are the right of everyone who calls this region home, today and into the future.
In this transition, our generous donor partners have started 20 new funds and helped award $16,078,689 in grants to dedicated nonprofit partners and scholarships to hardworking students. Our finance team and Investment Review Committee have stewarded our total assets to $448,331,707. They balance our ability to respond to critical needs today while sustaining our endowment so we can do the same in the future.
Thank you does not begin to express our appreciation for your continued support. Your partnership makes our work possible, and we look forward to all we will accomplish together.
Build and manage our community’s permanent endowment and lead the community to strengthen the lives of its people
A magnetic and interconnected West Michigan community
Integrity
Excellence
Inclusion
Sustainability
Bold Aspirations
For West Michigan to grow and prosper, we must make sure that everyone can apply their talents and creativity to fuel our future. It is only by connecting across perspectives and overcoming inequities that we can build and sustain an inclusive economy and thriving community.
I knew early on that my approach in my first year as president and CEO of Grand Rapids Community Foundation—Michigan’s oldest community foundation—would be intentional, strategic, informed and collaborative. I’ve learned through personal and professional lived experiences that true servant leadership is nuanced, relational and systemic. This is especially true for the Community Foundation—an organization with long-term relationships and deep impact.
Over several months of listening, learning and seeking understanding, I’ve been grateful for our staff, trustees, volunteer, nonprofit and community partners and industry peers. They have shared their experiences and expertise with me. The information, insight, context and connections have all been gifts. Most importantly, people in our community have shared stories of how the Community Foundation has touched them. This work is about so much more than theories of change, frameworks and impact models. It’s about making a difference in the lives of people. The stakes are too high to not get it right.
You and those before you have taught us so much over the last century. Many of you shared visions during our Centennial celebration year. All this will inform our strategic planning process, which will kick off in spring 2025. Our questions and discussions will lead to a clearer path forward to the West Michigan we all hope to be.
I know that our listening and learning together must—and will—continue. It is the only way for the Community Foundation and all our partners to truly adapt and respond to our community’s most pressing needs. So, trust that this approach will continue to inform our path ahead. We can’t do this work without partners like you walking alongside us.
