Donors
Our mission is to promote and stimulate philanthropy in Northeast Florida. That’s why we created the Donors Forum more than 20 years ago – to foster discussion and idea-sharing among all the grantmakers in Northeast Florida. Donors Forum includes individual donors; private, independent corporate and family foundations; community foundations; public charity grantmakers; and corporate giving programs.
“The Donors Forum knows our community’s needs and supports our giving endeavors. I would encourage others to join the Donors Forum because it is a great group of givers.”
– Lisa Ullmann, The Henri Landwirth Family Endowed Fund
The Donors Forum of Northeast Florida works to promote and strengthen philanthropy in our region by inspiring individual philanthropists, donors and foundations to:
Our fundholders, as well as representatives of private, corporate, independent and family foundations in Northeast Florida are invited to learn about regional programs of philanthropic interest, discuss issues of mutual concern, and explore collaborative grantmaking opportunities.
The Donors Forum is a philanthropic learning event series brought to you by The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida and The Lucy Gooding Charitable Foundation Trust.
Left to right: Nina Waters, Chris McCain, Adrienne Johnson, Charlie Cofer, Beau Rudder, Vernon Washington, Wanda Willis
In partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars, The Community Foundation hosted our December Donors Forum, which explored criminal justice reform. Public Defender Charlie Cofer took us inside the world of a person who has just been arrested and explained the lengthy process of booking, first appearance, setting of bail, and awaiting formal charges and trial. The goal of the money bail system is to ensure defendants return to appear in court for their trial, but it has created enormous costs for detainees and the community, which pays millions of dollars annually to detain people who cannot afford bail. If defendants are unable to pay, they may spend weeks in jail awaiting justice, and during that time, they may lose their job, miss rent and be unable to care for family. For these reasons, bail reform is an issue that has champions on both sides of the aisle. The Bail Project, a national model of bail reform with significant success across the country, uses an approach called ‘Community Release with Support’ to provide bail assistance to low-income individuals whom a judge has deemed eligible for release before trial. Adrienne Johnson, Regional Director at The Bail Project, said the organization works with partners to provide free rides, text reminders, housing support, and other services to ensure clients can return to court. Read a brief recap here; Watch the full recording; Learn more about The Bail Project’s impact since its launch in Jacksonville.
JaxCareConnect is a project of the Duval Safety Net Collaboration started 10 years ago by non-profit healthcare leaders to connect uninsured residents to community health and wellness resources. At our October Donors Forum, Jenny O’Donnell, JaxCareConnect Administrator, presented our group with an overview of the organization. Our panelists included: Michael Boylan, Jacksonville City Council Member, Chair of the NE Florida Long Term Recovery Organization, and Board Member of Volunteers in Medicine; and Melanie Patz, President and CEO of United Way. You can read a brief recap of the event here; watch the full recording here.
Learn more about JaxCareConnect and the work they do here.
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