About Us
Foundation Timeline
Our History
For nearly sixty years, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida has been helping donors build a better community. This timeline features just some of the important milestones that have been achieved along the way.
Nina Waters retires after 22 years of leadership at The Community Foundation, and the Board of Trustees unanimously selects Isaiah M. Oliver as our third president.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: The Honorable Brian J. Davis
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $655.7m
Grants Awarded: $68.8m
Expanded opportunities for collective investment—launched the A.L. Lewis Black Opportunity & Impact Fund and activated the Local Capital Pool; added a Vice President for Civic Leadership.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: The Honorable Brian J. Davis
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $540m
Grants Awarded: $57m
Women’s Giving Alliance turns 20! More than $7.7 million granted to improve the lives of women and girls in NE Florida. The Community Foundation’s assets reach their all-time high at $630 million.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Martha Frye Baker
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $627m
Grants Awarded: $42m
Celebrated 30th anniverary of Art Ventures. Partnered to raise and distribute $5.4MM for COVID-19 Relief from Florida's First Coast Relief Fund.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Martha Frye Baker
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $550m
Grants Awarded: $48m
Supported research on women in leadership and raised seed capital to create a position at the Jax Chamber for Vice President, Elevate Women
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Ryan A. Schwartz
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $483.4m
Grants Awarded: $50.3m
Investment options expanded to include a Social Impact Pool and an Intermediate Pool, and the Weaver Philanthropic Initiative Alumni Network launched.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Ryan A. Schwartz
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $384m
Grants Awarded: $47.2m
With the completion of the Quality Education for All Advised Fund, a Public Education Endowment is established for annual investment in Duval County Schools.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Deborah Pass Durham
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $398m
Grants Awarded: $40.5m
Frank V. Oliver, Jr. Endowment in Putnam County is now the Foundation’s largest Field of Interest Fund. Grants exceed $100,000 to improve the quality of life in Putnam County.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Deborah Pass Durham
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $344m
Grants Awarded: $43m
The Art Ventures Fund turns 25! To celebrate, the Ann McDonald Baker Art Ventures Award was created. Terrance Patterson, founder and artistic director of The Ritz Chamber Players, is the first recipient.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: William D. Brinton
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $313m
Grants Awarded: $37.3m
The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida celebrates 50 years of Giving Back | Giving Forward. Now recognized as the oldest and largest community foundation in Florida, we have total assets of $312 million and have awarded $332 million in grants since inception.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: William D. Brinton
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $312m
Grants Awarded: $53.5m
The Community Foundation announces plans for a $50 million Quality Education for All fund to provide direct support for excellence in teaching and leadership within Duval County Public Schools.
Official name: The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
Board of Trustees Chair: Paul Perez
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $295.4m
Grants Awarded: $36.1m
J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver move the Weaver Family Foundation to The Community Foundation; Delores Barr Weaver opens largest Donor Advised Fund ($50 million) in The Community Foundation’s history.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Paul Perez
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $257.2m
Grants Awarded: $31.1m
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $257.2m Grants Awarded: $31.1m
The Art Ventures Fund marked its 20th year in 2010. Over two decades, more than $630,000 was invested in the work of 91 individual artists and 30 small arts organizations.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Cindy Edelman
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $153.7m
Grants Awarded: $17.6m
Based on the research associated with its Quality Education for All initiative and the learnings of its 18-month community listening project, “Forum on Quality Education,” The Community Foundation established the Jacksonville Public Education Fund. JPEF is an independent nonprofit that works to connect research with a civic voice to advocate for high-quality public schools for all Duval County children.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Dan Rice
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $141.8m
Grants Awarded: $20.4m
Senior to Senior Fund is established with a generous $100,000 lead gift from J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver, with major contributions by Ann Baker, John Uible, Jim and Joan Van Vleck and David Stein. The fund helps senior citizens in Duval, Nassau, Baker, Clay and St. Johns Counties with cash assistance to support basic needs, and is administered by ElderSource. The success of the fund prompted the Weavers to endow the Senior to Senior Fund in 2009.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Dan Rice
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $123.7m
Grants Awarded: $16.5m
Provided the major local support for Project Breakthrough to address structural racism; The Community Foundation contributed $120,000 over five years to sustain.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: The Honorable Harvey Schlesinger
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $167.1m
Grants Awarded: $23.9m
The Community Foundation was selected as Jacksonville's sponsoring organization for Learning to Finish — a program focused on increasing the graduation rate in Duval County Public Schools.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: The Honorable Harvey Schlesinger
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $132.5m
Grants Awarded: $14.1m
The Eartha MM White Fund, Jacksonville's first major African-American philanthropy, was launched.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: William Scheu
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $118.2m
Grants Awarded: $13.0m
Nina Waters became President of The Community Foundation. The Trustees and staff developed a comprehensive education initiative called Quality Education for All; the blueprint called for a 10-year, $2 million commitment on behalf of the Foundation.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: William Scheu
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $118.2m
Grants Awarded: $13.0m
The Foundation received a $25 million gift from The Lucy Gooding Charitable Foundation Trust, which focuses its support on organizations that provide essential services to children. It was the largest gift in the Foundation's history and the largest gift ever to a Jacksonville nonprofit organization. The gift created The Henry & Lucy Gooding Endowment, which is advised by the Bryan family.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: William Scheu
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $105.0m
Grants Awarded: $9.5m
The Foundation supports launch of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida — an independent nonprofit support center serving the greater Jacksonville area.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Ann Baker
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $59.6m
Grants Awarded: $8.8m
The Suwannee Valley Community Foundation becomes the Foundation's first affiliate fund. SVCF serves Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwannee and Union Counties.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Ann Baker
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $59.6m
Grants Awarded: $8.8m
Nina Waters hired as Executive Vice President of The Community Foundation. The Foundation launches the Women's Giving Alliance, a giving circle led initially by Ann Baker, Doris Carson, Helen Lane, Delores Barr Weaver, and Courtenay Wilson. From an initial nucleus of a few dozen women, WGA has grown to more than 400 members and has made more than $7.7 million in grants to support women and girls in Northeast Florida.
Official name: The Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees Chair: Bruce Bower
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $68.9m
Grants Awarded: $7.1m
The Foundation creates the Philanthropic Initiative to educate the next generation of community leaders. The inaugural class included Rushton Callaghan, Dan Rice, John Peyton and Deborah Pass.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: J.F. Bryan IV
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $72.3m
Grants Awarded: $6.1m
With a $5 million grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, The Community Foundation and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund launch the Jessie Ball duPont Community Building Fund, a five-year initiative to build the capacity of child-serving nonprofit organizations through reflective practices.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: J.F. Bryan IV
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $72.3m
Grants Awarded: $6.1m
The Foundation invests $100,000 to help create LISC Jacksonville, a nonprofit that supports locally-based redevelopment of at-risk neighborhoods.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: J.F. Bryan IV
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $59.8m
Grants Awarded: $5.6m
The Foundation receives a gift from the estate of Harold K. "Bud" Smith of $10 million — the largest gift to a Jacksonville nonprofit at that time.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: Lawrence DuBow
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $50.3m
Grants Awarded: $6.2m
The Foundation launches Building Our Community — a multi-year initiative to support neighborhoods, families, and children. Over the course of seven years, The Community Foundation made 227 grants totaling $1.7 million to 141 organizations and 48 individual artists.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: J. Shephard Bryan
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $25.1m
Grants Awarded: $2.9m
With a challenge grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Foundation launches its first Venture Philanthropy Initiative: “Promoting Interracial Cooperation and Understanding.”
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: John D. Uible
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $10.1m
Grants Awarded: $2.6m
The Foundation receives a $200,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and establishes the Art Ventures Initiative to support emerging artists.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: Bob Shircliff
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $6.3m
Grants Awarded: $1.9m
The Foundation hires L. Andrew 'Andy' Bell, III as its first president. Andy Bell would serve until 2004.
Official name: The Jacksonville Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: Bob Shircliff
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $4.5m
Grants Awarded: $1.7m
The Foundation observes its 20th anniversary, and grants top $1 million for the first time.
Official name: Greater Jacksonville Area Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: Bob Shircliff
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $3.6m
Grants Awarded: $1.4m
The Foundation, under the leadership of Tom McGehee, creates a 67-member Advisory Board — the first link with donors, corporations and nonprofits.
Official name: Greater Jacksonville Area Community Foundation
Board of Trustees Chair: Thomas McGehee
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $2.7m
Grants Awarded: $983,000
On July 1, the Foundation receives its first major gift: $45,000 from the sale of the headquarters building of the Community Chest-United Fund, at 314 Market Street.
Official name: Greater Jacksonville Area Community Foundation
Board of Trustees: John C. Galvin, William G. Dickie, T.E. Camp III, Rex W. Mixon, Kenneth E. Haefele
Distribution Committee: Mrs. T.G. Buckner, W.A. Hamilton, Jr., William B. Mills, Dr. Benjamin F. Rogers, Thomas R. McGehee
Vital Numbers:
Total Assets: $63,000
On May 1, a Resolution & Declaration of Trust creates the Greater Jacksonville Area Community Foundation, founded by J. J. Daniel, Robert Feagin, Tom McGehee, and Laurence Lee, Jr. It is the first Community Foundation in Florida, and is overseen by trustees representing the major banks in Jacksonville: American National Bank, Atlantic National Bank, Barnett National Bank, First Bank and Trust Company, and Florida National Bank.
Official name: Greater Jacksonville Area Community Foundation
Board of Trustees: John C. Galvin, William G. Dickie, T.E. Camp III, Rex W. Mixon, Kenneth E. Haefele
Distribution Committee: Mrs. T.G. Buckner, W.A. Hamilton, Jr., William B. Mills, Dr. Benjamin F. Rogers, Thomas R. McGehee