Lehigh Valley Community Foundation

During fiscal year 2023, the Foundation made 780 grants totaling $7.2 million. Over 395 non-profit organizations received grants to meet a wide range of needs in the Community. See continuation on schedule othe Foundation continued to focus on nurturing place-based philanthropy and growing as a Community leader and to provide support in three foundation-directed grant areas (capacity building, high-quality, accessible childcare and art, culture and creative economy).in the area of capacity building, the Foundation launched the core fellowship program, a two-year capacity building process designed to bring Lehigh Valley nonprofit leaders together to center equity in themselves, their relationships, their organizations, and the sector. The 2022-2024 cohort included 15 fellows from 8 organizations, as well as 5 systems-stakeholders (representing the business and government sectors) during the inaugural year of this immersive fellowship experience. Organizations and fellows receive general operating funding, participate in nearly 50 hours of cohort convening over two years, receive five hours of individual leadership coaching, and participate in an organizational equity discovery process to assess the organization in how to best build capacity to become more equitable, resulting in an individualized organizatonal road-map for how to do the work in the area of youth and families, the Foundation granted nearly $200,000 of general operating grants to area non-profits that are working towards providing high-quality, accessible childcare.the Foundation is a regional partner agency of the Pennsylvania council on the arts (pca) and distributes grant awards for projects or programs involving artists throughout carbon, monroe, Lehigh and northampton counties. Through the partnership, the Foundation is assisting the pca with its goal to promote equitable access for all pennsylvanians to participate fully in a creative life and in the diverse forms of arts and culture in the commonwealth. In fiscal year 2023, the Foundation made $72,000 of program stream/entry to program stream grants to 30 organizations and $43,944 of grants to 22 small local businesses through the creative entrepreneur accelerator program.in addition to foundation-directed grantmaking and Community efforts, the Foundation offers a variety of philanthropic giving opportunities to multiple types of donors and makes grants to a wide variety of charitable organizations throughout the region. In order to connect donors with causes that matter to them, the Foundation continues to promote collaboration in the Community and to serve as a center of expertise regarding charitable giving and Community knowledge. The Foundation's Community knowledge and expertise is continually enhanced through several ongoing efforts. These efforts include: meetings with leadership of charitable organizations to help gather important information about the variety and quality of charitable causes and needs across the region; participation in Community initiatives; hosting events and convening community-wide discussions about philanthropy and cross-sector information gathering; and working with area grantmaking organizations to assess Community needs and develop ways to work collegially as grantmakers in the Community.