This course is designed to help staff and board members quickly comprehend community foundation organizational essentials. See below for details

View Course Announcement

View Agenda

Registration Form

The Power of Philanthropy
5 years of progress

In partnership with you, the community foundation is creating positive change in our region, across the country and around the world.  Our new report illustrates the progress we have made in the past five years, highlighting our leadership, innovation and grantmaking. Read about significant gains in student achievement in math; successful advocacy on behalf of the hungry; expanded access to legal services for immigrants; and much more.

We have a great deal to celebrate and more to accomplish. Together with you, we look forward to continuing to solve the most challenging problems in our region and beyond.

View our 5-year report

At an exhibition reception Friday (January 13) for the four current Rydell fellows (Andrea Borsuk, Victoria May, Tim Craighead and Andy Ruble) at the Museum of Art & History @ the McPherson Center, the next two years of awardees, who will each receive $20,000, were announced.

They are (for 2012) Isabelle Jenniches and Encyclopedia Pictura, the artist collective of Isaiah Saxon, Daren Rabinovitch and Sean Hellfritsch.

For 2013, the awardees are Ian Everard and Rocky Lewycky.

Isabelle Jenniches creates images captured from live cameras on the Intranet. Having exhibited around the world, she lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains and divides her time between her studio practice and farming.

Encyclopedia Pictura, the artist collective of Isaiah Saxon, Daren Rabinovitch and Sean Hellfritsch, has teamed up to direct film and art projects that explore science, nature, and adventure. Esquire magazine called them “The Directors of the Future”. The trio was born and raised in Santa Cruz County. For the last two years, they have led an effort to build a unique hillside neighborhood in the redwood forests of Aptos.

Ian Everard is a painter whose work is in the collections of the Oakland Museum and Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. He has been written about in ArtScene, Art Week, San Jose Mercury News and New York Magazine among others.

Rocky Lewycky is a ceramic and installation artist. Recognized as a top emerging talent, he currently teaches art at Foothill College and Monterey Peninsula College.

“Roy and Frances Rydell believed in the arts and in Santa Cruz County’s as a place to live and work,” said Lance Linares, executive director of the Community Foundation.

“The support provided by the permanent endowed fund the Rydells created ensures that artists living in our county will receive recognition and support in perpetuity,” Linares said.

Forty-two artists applied for this round of fellowships from a candidate pool nominated by 29 local and regional visual arts organizations.  Nominees were limited to working artists, 25 years or older, who reside in Santa Cruz County and are not enrolled in a degree granting program.

Nominating organizations were asked to consider the broad disciplines the Rydells thought of as part of the visual arts: painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, installation, mixed media, stage set design, photography, costume design, textiles, glass, film and video.

In November 2011, a panel of three nationally-recognized arts professionals met at the Foundation to judge the artists’ works and select the fellowship recipients. The panel members were Elizabeth Armstrong, (Curator of Contemporary Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts), Elyse Gonzales, (Curator of Exhibitions at the Museum of Art, Design, and Architecture, UC Santa Barbara), and Gilbert Vicario (Senior Curator at the Des Moines Art Center).

Since 1982, the Foundation has worked to help donors and their advisors invest wisely in causes they care about, to provide grants and resources to community organizations and to offer leadership around key local issues. Visit online at www.cfscc.org or (831) 662-2000 for more information.

Photo images of the artists’ work are available on request and can be viewed online at www.cfscc.org/RydellFellowshipProgram

Titled “Partnering for Impact,” this year’s conference was geared toward learning creative new strategies for running and growing organizations through tough economic times. Conference sessions were developed specifically for nonprofit leaders and included building the right funding model; creating a volunteerism model for long-term social impact; working across issue sectors; and measuring impact.

The participants will give presentations to share what they learned with the nonprofit community.  Last year, more than 150 nonprofit executives attended the post-conference meetings, rating this innovative model for both leadership training and county collaboration as exceptional.  The nonprofit executives who attended the conference represent a range of issue areas from health and human services to the arts, education and the environment.  This is the Foundation’s third year of sponsorship investment.

See the News Release for more information.

This is the first modified vehicle the family has ever owned, and couldn’t have come at a better time for the Miller family, as getting around town for the simplest of errands was becoming a daunting task in their current SUV.  Amy’s mother had to physically lift her in and out of the vehicle, creating physical strain on both mother and daughter. They needed an easy access vehicle that allowed Amy to remain safely in her wheelchair, and the van was the perfect solution.

The Foundation thanks Tiffany Ford Motor Company for spearheading the efforts in locating the specially designed vehicle, for their full safety inspection, and their help in making the family’s dream a reality.

For information regarding the Martin Rajkovich Children’s Fund please contact the Community Foundation at 831.630.1924 or visit the website at www.cfsbc.org.

The program, launched in 2008, involves them in funding grants for local nonprofit organizations.  Earlier this year, twenty seven nonprofits submitted grant applications with detailed project proposals. They were reviewed by the youth grantmakers, who wanted to help teens dealing with important issues facing young people today.  Nine nonprofits were chosen to receive a total of $20,000. “The goal is to teach young people about the tradition of philanthropy,” said Celia Cudiamat, the foundation’s Vice President of Grant Programs. “We want to increase their awareness about people outside the confines of their own neighborhood, improve their skills in conflict resolution and communications, increase their knowledge about grantmaking, nonprofits and foundations, and teach them leadership and civic skills.  We hope the end result is to increase their interest and involvement in their community.”

Isaac, who will be serving on the committee again next year, summed it up like this: “Youth grantmakers committee is an outlet for us to not only have a voice, but to also have a direct impact with the resources provided to us.  While serving as youth grantmakers, we become leaders, we become liaisons, we become philanthropists, but most importantly, we take action.”

See the Media Release.

In late 2010, a check for $60,000 was presented to North County Trade Tech High to sponsor employment of a Trade Instructor. The school provides students with a combination of academic curriculum and hands-on training required to succeed in the building and construction industry. By giving an opportunity to acquire work experience and real-life skills, the school also hopes to keep children from dropping out of school and engaging in crime and other non-productive behavior.