For Caroline Brinton, civic engagement runs in the family.
It began when her grandfather, Harry Brinton, was appointed the Director of the Jacksonville Public Library System in 1959.
(Pictured left: Harry Brinton, Director of the Jacksonville Public Library, penned his predictions on the future of the library in 1964, which you can read on the Jacksonville History Center’s blog.)
It continued with her father, Bill Brinton, who grew up attending community meetings with his dad. He recalled reading the city charter during consolidation, which gave him important insights for his community work later in life.
Bill went on to become the founder of Scenic Jacksonville, successfully fighting for a change to the city charter to prohibit billboards along highways, freeing the community of visual clutter that continues to beautify the spaces we experience every day. He was also the board chair of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, where he learned about the importance of endowment. Today, the Foundation is home to the Scenic Jacksonville Endowment to Protect and Enhance Scenic Beauty in Jacksonville, established in his honor in 2017, shortly before he passed away from lung cancer.
“I’ve had so much peace with my father’s passing,” said Caroline. “As much as he gave of his own time, we got back from the community in the time he was sick and in the years that followed.”
Throughout her father’s life, Caroline was surrounded by conversations about what was going on in the community and behind the scenes work. It is a family tradition that continues today.
“I think the most important thing I learned from my dad is the importance of exposing your kids to community issues and to believe in their ability to learn about complex topics,” Caroline said. “I’ve been intentional about bringing my sons to all sorts of community planning sessions and events over the years, and it’s given them a chance to learn about the work that goes in and explore where their own interests may lie.”
For Caroline, civic engagement has meant involvement in many programs and initiatives of The Community Foundation as well as other community organizations, such as the Women’s Board of Wolfson Children’s Hospital (of which her mom is a past President), host committees for exhibits at the Cummer Museum and Gardens, helping to build Scenic Jacksonville’s Endowment, and rebuilding fundraising for Navy Ortega Lakeshore Little League while her sons were playing. She joined the Women’s Giving Alliance as a Legacy Member – a lasting commitment to improving the lives of women and girls.
“Because of my dad, I wanted my fund to be endowed,” she said. “He really believed in the importance of endowment for sustaining nonprofit organizations, and I trust TCF and WGA’s models enough to invest treasure at a time in my life when I can’t always fully commit my time.”
Caroline has given generously through her donor advised fund to support many community causes: the Friends of the Bill Brinton Murray Hill Public Library, named in her father’s honor and where her sons received their first library cards, the Cummer Museum, the Women’s Board of Wolfson Children’s Hospital, the Nina Waters Nonprofit Leadership Fund, and many more. She is an alumna of the Weaver Philanthropic Initiative and has served as a strategic consultant to the program. Through that work, she helped build out critical pieces of alumni engagement, including family volunteer days and the WPI e-newsletter, which has profiled many of the program’s more than 100 alumni.
Family volunteer days were one impetus for her own children to become civically engaged. In 2019, she helped organize the family volunteer day at Feeding Northeast Florida, and volunteered alongside her sons, Luke and Adams.
Today, Luke credits that experience with driving his interest to serve as a Teen Ambassadors for Feeding Northeast Florida.
“I’m a big believer in the power of intergenerational giving and service,” Caroline said. “Last year, Luke participated in Youth Leadership Jacksonville, years after accepting a lifetime achievement award on behalf of his grandfather from Leadership Jacksonville. Both took place in the building originally built under his great-grandfather as Jacksonville’s Main Library, and it felt like a full circle moment.”