Philanthropy – Page 3 – Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro

Connie Leeper: Dr. George C. Simkins Jr.’s Lasting Impact

Kabrina Shamburger on February 18, 2022

After my husband and I moved to Greensboro in 1985, I soon learned of the fight for civil rights that took place right here in my newly adopted town. One person, in particular, was Dr. George C. Simkins, Jr., who was a community leader and civil rights activist. Born in Greensboro in 1924, Dr. Simkins was a well-known and respected dentist. In 1955, he and several other black men were arrested for trespassing after they played nine holes at the all-white, municipal Gillespie Golf Course. The men appealed their convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against them in a 5-to-4 vote. Rather than integrate Gillespie, the city closed the course, reopening seven years later with Dr. Simkins the first to tee off.

Most notably, Dr. Simkins was involved in a court action to desegregate Moses Cone and Wesley Long Community Hospitals. You can find a permanent reminder near Cone Hospital where a plaque describes the role Dr. Simkins played in this landmark case.

In 2010, Dr. Simkins’ friends and family chose the Community Foundation as a home for The George C. Simkins, Jr. Scholarship. To date, almost $200,000 in scholarships have been awarded to high school students of color. This scholarship is a permanent reminder that there was once a brave, dedicated African American who was committed to equality and would surely be proud to see that his legacy is being honored in this way.

Connie Leeper, Donor Services Manager

Steve Hayes: January is National Mentoring Month

Kabrina Shamburger on January 31, 2022

There was a study done decades ago that discovered that children who thrived after traumatic events had one thing in common: An adult who was a constant positive presence in their lives. Upon hearing this, one of our more prominent nonprofit leaders remarked,” Where is my adult? I need that too!” We all need that “Adult” in our lives we can turn to for guidance and support. One of the tenets of the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium is that good training for nonprofits must be supported by opportunities for individual coaching and mentoring. While the Consortium offers forty different “classroom style” training events each year, much of the benefit of that training are the hundreds of hours of mentoring, coaching, and support that is built into every event.

The Executive Leadership Academy is a year-long leadership development program that allows participants to attend training at the Center for Creative Leadership. After a battery of online assessments, participants meet for day-long seminars on developing their own leadership skills. Supporting the training is a program that gives each nonprofit leader an individual coach to work with during the training to implement what they’ve learned. Participants are also placed in small “Peer Coaching” groups where they learn how to coach and support each other in their development. Many of these Peer Groups continue to meet years after the Academy is over.

In 2020, Triad Coaching Connection, an organization of local professionals in leadership and organizational development, partnered with the Consortium to provide 24 nonprofits with individualized coaching to help them navigate the early days of the pandemic and economic crisis. These professionals volunteered their skills and support to help local nonprofits keep the doors open in those early dark days.

One of the most valued Consortium programs is our Executive Director Roundtable Series. This is a “closed door” meeting for the Executive Directors of nonprofits where they can safely and confidentially discuss the challenges they face in their day-to-day work. Topics may include human resources issues, relationships between Directors and their Boards, financial management, and fundraising. There may be no topic at all! During the pandemic, many roundtables were just opportunities to check in with each other and offer mutual support.

The staff of the Consortium spend much of their time mentoring and supporting nonprofit professionals. The Consortium Director met with 289 individuals from 136 different organizations in 2021. They may have heard from Board Chairs asking, “How can I get this Board member to participate in meetings?” From Executive Directors they heard, “How do I lead my organization through Strategic planning?” The young nonprofit professional asked, “Can you help me develop the skills I need to build my career?” The most common request for help came from the committed community member who asked, “How do I start a nonprofit? Should I?”

There is the old adage “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” This is the heart of the work of the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium. We do indeed train people, but more importantly, we help build the relationships that make training work. We help find that “Adult” that our nonprofits need to thrive.

Could you be an “Adult” for one of our local nonprofits? Organizations that rescue animals, mentor youth, develop our economy, provide the Arts, feed the hungry, ensure affordable, safe housing, and many other causes need your support. One of the best ways to share your talents is by serving on a nonprofit board. The Consortium can help you find that nonprofit that needs your help and shares your values. We will even offer you training on how to be an effective board member.

January is National Mentoring Month. We usually associate mentoring with providing young people with personal, academic, or professional support. This is important, but our nonprofit community needs those same supports. Consider being an “Adult” for a nonprofit by offering your skills in accounting, human resources, events planning, fundraising, or any of the myriad of ways that you can help. The Consortium can help you find that “right fit.” Contact us at guilfordnonprofits@gmail.com and start building those relationships.

Steve Hayes, Director Guilford Nonprofit Consortium

Ending the Cycle of Poverty Through Micro-Enterprise

Kabrina Shamburger on March 15, 2020

Passion to Purse and YWCA Greensboro are empowering women to start small businesses as a big step toward financial security.

In 2015, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro’s Women to Women endowment fund awarded its first-ever, multi-year grant to Passion to Purse. This program, offered through YWCA Greensboro, is aimed at ending the cycle of poverty and homelessness by helping low-income and minority women start micro-enterprises.

While the core of the program remains an eight-week course covering business development, market research, pricing, and financial projections, it also offers a safe space for these women.

“It was like a support group for them,” said Rosalyn Womack, founding director of Passion to Purse. As the women worked on their individual businesses, they were also helping each other through the adversities they faced in their own personal lives.

Now in its fifth year, Passion to Purse has countless success stories of helping women create jobs for themselves. From selling hair products and hand-made soaps to opening bakeries and online consignment stores for designer children’s clothing, the “graduates” of Passion to Purse can be found living and thriving across our community.

The program is also thriving. Since receiving its first grant from Women to Women, Passion to Purse has been able to secure additional funding due in part to the prestige of that first grant.

“It makes other funders very comfortable [to know that] Women to Women found it fundable,” said Lindy Garnette, Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Greensboro.

To learn how you can donate to causes like this and others that are empowering people to create better lives for themselves, contact us today.