Community Initiatives

In recent years, GAR helped to initiate projects to respond to persistent needs in the community. The following is a brief description of these initiatives.

SUMMIT EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Summit Education Initiative ("SEI") was created in 1996 by a group of business, foundation, community, and higher education leaders, with the following mission: to engage and mobilize all people and resources in Summit County to significantly improve schooling and learning for all children, in all schools.

To learn more about SEI, see their web site at www.seisummit.org.

 

THE CENTER FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE
The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, a capacity building resource organization, was launched in July 2001 by community leaders from both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. The mission of the Center is "to nurture excellence in nonprofit leadership, management, and governance practices through training, partnerships, and referrals to the highest quality services and resources."

Visit the Center for Nonprofit Excellence site at www.cfnpe.org for more information.

 

PROJECT CONNECT
Since the mid-90´s, it has been obvious that technology is an issue of major importance and need for nonprofits in this community. After studying possibilities for meeting this need, GAR asked Info Line of Summit County to expand its mission to include a technology training, referral, and information component. In 1999, "Project Connect" was created to address the technological and connectivity needs of nonprofit organizations in the area.

To learn more about Project Connect, see their web site at http://www.infolineinc.org/connect.htm.

 

THE FUND FOR OUR ECONOMIC FUTURE
The Fund for Our Economic Future is an unprecedented collaboration of more than 100 private and corporate foundations seeking to dramatically improve the economic climate in Northeast Ohio. Through its grant-making activities, the Fund for Our Economic Future supports organizations that have the potential to strengthen Northeast Ohio as a whole. Launched in February 2004, more than 100 foundations, organizations and individuals have contributed more than $60 million to the Fund. New members of the Fund include the Reinberger Foundation, Case Western Reserve University and the J.M. Smucker Co.

The Fund is in its second, three-year phase of work. In Phase 2, the Fund is collaborating with partners in the public and private sectors to implement Advance Northeast Ohio, the region´s economic action plan.
The Fund collaborates with others in the 16-county region to improve the region´s economic competitiveness in four action areas:

  • Business Growth & Attraction
  • Talent Development
  • Growth Through Racial & Economic Inclusion
  • Government Collaboration & Efficiency

The majority of the Fund´s charitable grants support nonprofit, regional economic development organizations. The Fund also supports research that is used to guide the region´s economic development efforts and measure the region´s economic performance. The Fund´s civic engagement efforts bring together a wide variety of people, organizations and institutions to accelerate the development and implementation of regional approaches to economic development throughout the 16 counties that make up Northeast Ohio.

For more information, see the Fund´s website at http://www.futurefundneo.org/