Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) is committed to bringing people in our community together to learn about racial equity through conversations that foster understanding and move us forward in impactful ways.
NKY Giving Circle
Eleven members of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s (GCF) Arts and Culture Giving Circle recently granted $80,000 to 10 local nonprofits.
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) has recently awarded $288,000 in grants to support strategic efforts targeting reading and math literacy for Cincinnati’s youngest learners through the Gladys and Ralph Lazarus Education Fund.
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s donors and professional advisors spent an inspirational evening with Andy and Jordan Dalton and Bob Coughlin.
Kathryne Gardette likens her neighborhood to a garden.
When the Withrow Dental Center opened, it had a waiting list of 200 Withrow University High School students.
Stephanie Sears said she visited the Kentucky Career Center to find out if there was any way she could support her family and herself. She was doubtful.
Mike Collette opened a donor advised fund at The Greater Cincinnati Foundation when he decided that Cincinnati was his home.
Imagine a city where teens from the urban core graduate college and become brand managers, vice presidents of corporations, architects.
Partnering with donors fuels our mission and ability to build a more prosperous and vibrant region where all can thrive. And helping you invest your charitable dollars in the areas about which you care most is the engine of our work.
When workers own their business, productivity jumps. And this is the key Cincinnati Union Cooperative Initiative (CUCI) is banking on as they work to grow cooperatives in our region.
Robert and Ruth Westheimer believed in the idea of a community foundation, and their family made a significant gift towards The Greater Cincinnati Foundation's first permanent home, a 6-story building at the corner of 4th and Elm, in 1999.
Andy Brunsman was on the path to medical school. That was until he started working at Our Daily Bread as a service learning project as a Mount Saint Joseph University student.
Keke Sansalone worked with The Greater Cincinnati Foundation to make a gift to a church in Michigan.
Every month on her way to work, Doris Simmons of Evanston stops by The Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati to drop off her mortgage check.
Andrea Cornett and Ginny Wiltse joke that after raising eight children, Helen Steiner Rice was their mother’s ninth child.
Justus Scott was three pounds, 12 ounces at birth. Born at eight months, he endured surgeries, a feeding tube, transfusions, and a colostomy bag.
What do a couple from Michigan and a woman from Lexington, Kentucky have in common? These young transplants are so in love with their adopted home, they practically gush as they compare notes.
When Julie Geisen Scheper and Chuck Scheper talk about proud moments in their lives, both mention children. Chuck also cites statistics.
By definition, a community foundation cannot be effective working alone or in isolation. Together with donors, volunteers, professional advisors, nonprofit organizations, and civic leaders, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation contributes significantly to making our region a more thriving and vibrant place.
We’re not the only ones turning 50. GCF and Stepping Stones were born the same year and you could say we have the same parents.
Strong is only one of the words friends and colleagues used to describe Gerri Johnson. Dignity, compassion and courage were a few others.
It takes a special group of people to know when it’s time to go out of business.
If you ask Linda Pavey to tell why she puts her heart and soul into caring for horses, she will tell you about Zodiac.
As a high school student, Morgan Judd would give up valuable sleeping time – Saturday mornings – to go teach young girls at her dance studio in Blue Ash. This was simply typical Morgan. She was the girl who was always prepared, never late and was always there for people.
The Northern Kentucky Fund of GCF is delighted to present the 2014 Devou Cup to Frank and Patricia Sommerkamp. The award will be presented at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner on September 18.
When you set a table, the different elements — cutlery, plates, glasses, and, of course, the food — collectively create a welcoming experience. The same is true when you bring people together to make lasting change in our community.
Dave Dillon loves small towns because the people are open and gracious. The retired CEO and current chairman of The Kroger Company could be describing himself. Walk into a Kroger store with Dave and he doesn't know a stranger. He remembers personal stories about the people he’s met, says good morning to customers, and tells them to have a good day.
They rode the same school bus and attended first through twelfth grade together. Growing up in rural Alabama after the Great Depression, Don and Laura Harrison were academic rivals. Both sharp students dreamed of attending college.
Generous volunteers are the heart of GCF. Governing Board members and other community volunteers contribute their time and expertise on a variety of standing committees and task forces. Volunteers also helped plan and implement our 50th Anniversary and Big Idea Challenge in 2013.
Randall Stokes and Ana María Paz Gómez just met but already the conversation flows easily. Introductions lead to Ana explaining that in her home country of Colombia, you take your mother’s last name. Both credit this open dialogue to being Diverse by Design volunteers.
Kelly Birkenhauer works full-time as a geologist, has a young son, and spends more than 16 hours a week working to improve the lives of Greater Cincinnati’s refugees. The chair of the Junior League of Cincinnati’s RefugeeConnect Committee said her motivation is that the refugees themselves are nothing short of amazing.
“Mary” first came for help while living in a battered women’s shelter. She was so debilitated by her many ailments that she could barely leave the shelter’s safety. Her conditions included asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arthritis and depression.
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation believes progress in reducing racial disparities is critical to the community's future and that philanthropy can have a unique and important role to play.
Herb Brown is well-versed in change and growth. Involved with GCF for 35 years, he remembers when it had only three paid employees.
Karen Hoeb and Carolyn McCoy credit GCF as the origin of their relationship. In fact, the Foundation’s former leaders are so simpatico they arrived at this report’s photo shoot dressed in complementary black and white. They swore it wasn’t planned but didn’t seem surprised.
To look at Marian Spencer you'd never guess that she boldly goes where others fear to tread. Now, in her 90s, Spencer has a steely determination that belies her diminutive size.
An assignment from her grandparents left teenager Susan Weiss shocked.
Leslie McNeill had a vision for and unshakeable belief in women’s collective efforts when she founded Cincinnati's Women’s Fund in 1995.
In the last 10 years, Bill Kelleher has been on just two vacations. The single father made the decision some time ago to devote his resources and free time to his hobby – giving back to local nonprofits.
Continuing his father’s legacy of “corporate good citizenship” was important to William Olin Mashburn Jr. (1906 – 1971), when he took over Coca-Cola Bottling Works with his brother John Cromer Mashburn in 1930, following their father’s sudden death.
We sat down with Dr. Monica Mitchell, Thriving People Advisory Committee co-chair, to talk about our new Community Investment framework rolled out in 2012. GCF’s volunteers and Community Investment staff worked closely on its development. Dr. Mitchell works on community engagement and research, program evaluation, and health and wellness promotion at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The first time Ruth Dickey saw the Clifton Cultural Arts Center (CCAC), it was “a big empty building that had been vacant for two years, surrounded by dead, scary trees.” But Ruth, “a sucker for big ambitious dreams,” didn’t find it hard to leave Seattle to become the CCAC’s Founding Executive Director.
He’s produced a performance with Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono, lived in Italy and England, and traveled to 66 countries. Knowing this, it may come as a surprise that David Herriman’s favorite topic of conversation is Greater Cincinnati and its arts community.
A conversation about sports led to new careers for Gerry and Kate Greene.
Bill Montague loves Monday mornings. This wasn’t always the case, but what changed his mind was when he began tutoring a third grade girl at William Howard Taft Elementary.
One of Lori C.’s earliest memories is seeing her parents get high.
Brooke Ungerbuehler’s boss made her cry. Brooke is an employee of ASAP Event Advertising, a company that provides temporary signage and advertising displays for retail chain stores.
What began in 2009 as an urgent response to a national economic meltdown grew into a three-year initiative to help the Greater Cincinnati region weather the worst of what was ultimately a cataclysmic economic storm. The Weathering the Economic Storm (WTES) initiative brought together 26 local funders who abandoned their normal application processes and funding procedures in order to quickly identify and provide funding support to a variety of critical community needs.
Russ Simmonds sat back with a sigh. It had been a rough year. He and his sisters had lost both parents in a period of seven months.
Doris Leonard claims she’s ordinary. A native of Bethel, Ohio, she was an only child raised by Depression-era parents who courted by mail.
When Jim Landers ventured into the boiler room of his parish, St. Antoninus Church, he was taken aback.
For Jack and Marilyn Osborn, a blind date plus four sons was a winning combination. The couple married and blended their families (two boys each). The age span of 12 years didn’t stop the boys from becoming brothers.
It’s not hard to see why Judy Schmitz was selected to be the “sunshine girl” by her Kiwanis group. She’s upbeat, enthusiastic and willing to try new things. In the recent past, she’s fed cheetahs in Africa, learned French, volunteered in Haiti and taught a class at Xavier University.
Owen Smith knows what it’s like to grow up without a father. “I think there is a lot of stuff that could have been different if I had a male role model,” he said. “I don’t want my kids to be in the same situation.”
DeMountez, a sophomore at Elder High School, shares that he lives on the “worst street” in Price Hill.
Sam Hutson considers himself a person from the streets. He became a single parent when his son Dominque was 17 months old. Sam decided he wanted something different for him and looked to the Catholic school system.
“Let’s just say his mother visited my mother in the hospital,” Glenda Schorr said of her husband Roger. “Our mothers played in the same bridge club, went to the same church and our fathers both worked in the local banks."
Gibbs MacVeigh recalls the first time he stepped into the barbershop in Williamsburg, Ohio.
In her short life, Dr. Erin Talbot McNeill accomplished much for women. As a doctor in reproductive endocrinology, she developed programming, policy and research for women’s health rights around the world.
“Rather than have a big tombstone and all, I thought it would be better to have a scholarship fund” said Colonel Cecil Himes of Rocky Ridge, Alabama.
Bill Powell remembers his mother talking about visits to the Fresh Air Farm. Little did he know that the Farm’s endowment was used to open GCF’s first fund and that he himself would one day open a fund at GCF.
Rich Boehne described it as “voluntary redistribution.” He and his wife, Lisa, find it natural to share what they have with their community.” Both of us are from blue-collar families, we’re first-generation college-educated,” he said.
During his first week at Cincinnati Arts and Technology Center (CATC), Brandon Briggs stood up at a college fair and asked a tough question. “Can I get into college even though I have a felony on my record?” Brandon is 17 years old and began taking classes at CATC last fall after he was released from juvenile prison.
Mud, shovels and worms. It’s all part of an afternoon with Riverview East Academy’s Garden Club. The Garden Club, 20 children in grades K-4, tackles the great outdoors with shovels, seeds and a lot of enthusiasm every other week.
Dan and Susan Pfau joke that the front doors of their house, bought in St. Louis, were the only sticking point in their marriage.
Dr. Myrtis Powell is a presence. She’s not shy about sharing her opinions and is quick to laugh and flash her fantastic smile. Her background is impressive — she is the former Vice President of Student Affairs at Miami University, recently retired as the President of Cincinnati Youth Collaborative and was honored by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber as a Great Living Cincinnatian of 2005.
Librarian Garrette Smith stood in front of a group of homeless women, many illiterate, to discuss reading with their children. Worried that they would see her as a professional woman talking “at” them not “with” them, she found common ground – motherhood.
“Never throw out the beet juice.” This homespun wisdom offered by Lawrence Dollman to his neighbors symbolizes his simple lifestyle and the friendships he forged late in life.
The day before Thanksgiving Al and Pat Harmann embarked on a family tradition. They gave their three adult children and their spouses a gift.
Serving a role in his family's foundation was a natural progression for Andrew MccAoidh Jergens. His late father, Andrew Nicholes Jergens, established The Andrew Jergens Foundation in 1962 and he become involved soon after.
People on her street remembered Dorothy G. Klasen as a kind and generous neighbor who mowed her own lawn and raked her own leaves until she was no longer able. Her kindness was returned by other neighbors who helped her stay in her own home until just a few weeks before she died.
The seeds of Iva Brown and Bertha Lacey Jones' friendship were planted in 1960. Bertha was a young newlywed, new to Cincinnati; Iva a college student at the University of Cincinnati. They met through the Sigma Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha {AKA) Sorority.
As a nurse, Mary Ann worked 40 hours a week and overtime whenever she could. She always paid her bills on time and helped to take care of her extended family. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Millvale/South Cumminsville has a high foreclosure rate and widespread poverty. But it also has a beautiful new school, the Ethel M. Taylor Academy, where staff and community members are striving for change with the creation of a community learning center.
Celine Quinn was devastated. The elementary school librarian had used a Learning Links grant to build a bird sanctuary at the school. Over spring break, vandals had destroyed the Lincoln Elementary sanctuary.
Maggie Moore’s attorney still gets requests from charities asking to renew his client’s gifts. This isn’t surprising. His memory of his client of 50-some years is, “she was a good soul.”
“God has been good to me my whole life,” Bill Remke said. “I have three wonderful children. I’m so busy with my business, I never had time to volunteer but I could help out financially.”
Imagine you are eight years old and it’s summer time. This usually means no school and months of fun. But what if your family is in crisis? You have to leave your home and your friends. Summer doesn’t look so promising.
Richard and Lucile Durrell were educators and geologists devoted to nature conservation and education. They had a clear vision of what they wanted their charitable legacy to accomplish and set up their estate plan with very specific instructions.
It was the phone call no one wants. The day after her son graduated from high school,
LaGracia Guice-Williams received a call from her employer, a funeral home. She was told not to come in to her job as director the next day.
It was the police car outside a school that shook him up. Dick Fencl was visiting an inner-city elementary school as a volunteer with Executive Service Corps. He was there to work on the school’s security system, but what made an impression on him was a police car outside because a sixth grader had been caught selling drugs.
Anne Nethercott has lived her life following her mother’s advice — give an egg, knit a sweater.
Bill and Sue Friedlander get things done. A peek at their resumés reveals an impressive list of professional and volunteer accomplishments and awards. This modest couple downplays their work and contributions.
The third time was a charm for Peg Fightmaster. The first time she enrolled in college, she was 19 years old and excited to major in pre-med. But as the oldest of five children, she had to become the family breadwinner when her father lost his job. She quit school and went to work full-time.