2019 Annual Report

2019 Annual Report p1 April 2020 To our partners: Times have changed dramatically here in Rhode Island — and around the world — since the end of 2019; we are in the midst of an unprece- dented health and economic crisis. Community foundations are poised to respond in times like these, as both immediate and long-term needs present themselves. In mid-March, we established the COVID-19 Response Fund which has deployed — and will continue to deploy — financial resources to nonprofit organizations that are on the front line of COVID-19 response for our state. We will continue to stay connected to the community and to use all of the tools at our disposal to respond with urgency, and with an eye toward our state's collective, long-term success. Be well. p2 Dear Friends, Contents We’re excited to share the Foundation’s 2019 Annual Report with you. On the following Letter from the 3 pages, you’ll read stories of generous donors, President & CEO and Chair and incredibly dedicated, hardworking grantee partners, and you’ll read about how Mission and vision 4 we’re actively engaging in civic leadership as Rhode Island’s community foundation. To help a city it takes a village 6 Cleaner than it's been in 150 years — 12 You’ll also learn more about the Foundation’s Narragansett Bay is not saving itself 2019 results. At the end of the year, total members who partner with the Foundation assets stood at approximately $1.1 billion, to work toward fulfillment of our mission — A Rhode Island couple comes back 16 and our investment return for the year was and gives back to meet the needs of the people of Rhode 18.6%, bringing our 10-year average return Island. And, we are excited for what the to 8.5%. Steady returns and year-over-year Realizing a long-term vision for Rhode Island 18 future holds — there is so much more to do, requires a plan — Better yet, two plans fundraising allow us to grow the Foundation’s challenges and opportunities to take head-on endowment and invest more into the — and we’re ready. 2019 Civic Leadership Fund donors 24 community. To that end, we raised $47 million in partnership with visionary and committed Rhode Island Foundation in the news 28 donors, and awarded a record $56 million in With warm regards, grants to over 2000 nonprofits in 2019. 2019 results 31 Legacy donor stories 32 The Foundation also raised a record $620,000 for our Civic Leadership Fund, an Mary Brooks Wall, The 1916 Society 38 annual fund that allows us to get — and Chair stay — involved in the issues of the day. For New donor stories 44 example, we convened and led two long-term planning processes this past year: one focused Board of Directors 72 Neil D. Steinberg on health in Rhode Island, and one on pre-K President & CEO Staff 73 through 12th grade public education. You’ll read more about those in this report as well. Funds 74 As we reflect on the close of a decade, we Supporting Organizations 101 would like to express our gratitude to the Financials 102 generous donors, grantees, and community One Union Station (401) 274-4564 Providence, RI 02903 www.rifoundation.org p4 p5 Mission Vision �e Rhode Island Lead. We have earned the trust of our donors, community leaders, and Rhode Islanders through a century Foundation is a of effective investments, strategic grants, and responsible decisions. proactive community Transform. We align our fundraising, grantmaking, and leadership to inspire and engage Rhode Islanders and philanthropic leader to address today’s challenges and create lasting improvements in our community. dedicated to meeting the Inspire. We challenge and encourage Rhode Islanders to become active and involved in the community, to needs of the people of form meaningful partnerships, and to work together for the good of Rhode Island. Rhode Island. p6 p7 To help a city it takes a village By Jennifer Pereira While the Foundation has three strategic initiatives — economic security, educational success, and healthy lives — none of those exist in a vacuum. They are all interwoven in our communities and in our daily lives, with change in any one of them affecting the others. The following story illustrates how nonprofit organizations from different fields in just one part of our state are working together to improve the lives of their residents. We are proud to support their efforts. p8 p9 always eat. She understands now that there wasn’t enough food for everyone. “The housing (Tonomy Hill) looked a lot like old military barracks. There was a lot of drug activity, and we weren’t allowed to go outside by ourselves,” Ellen says. She continues, “School was great, and I had very good teachers who sort of took me in. They knew more about my background than I did.” But when she moved to another, now-closed elementary school in Newport, she notes, “I didn’t do well. I was the only brown kid at the school. I spent a lot of time by myself. The Boys & Girls Club became like a haven to me. I learned about things like s an AmeriCorps volunteer with the cooking and sewing that I wouldn’t have been Newport Working Cities Collaborative, exposed to otherwise.” AEllen Pinnock worked in three Newport public schools. One advantage she had was Ellen’s family lived briefly in South Carolina, her ability to connect with the students returning to Newport when Ellen should have who were dealing with many of the same entered tenth grade. Instead, she worked two challenges she had faced while growing up. jobs and earned a GED. She later attended Bristol Community College followed by the The daughter of a Native American and Irish Community College of Rhode Island, where mother and an African American father, she earned a degree in general studies. Ellen was raised by a single mother in public housing in what then was Tonomy Hill in “Seeing what my mother went through made Newport’s North End. Her mother had five me want to do better and reach higher. I’m children by the time she was nineteen, and one of those people who, when someone health issues prevented her from working. needs something, I want to be there to help,” Ellen explains. Ellen is there not only for her “I never really knew how poor we were daughter, Dorothy, a tenth grader at Rogers and how much we were struggling,” Ellen High School, but also for other Newporters recounts. She remembers the landlord who need a helping hand. She currently dropping off clothes and that when the family is coordinator for the Newport Check & sat down for a meal, her mother wouldn’t Connect program which — under the direction p10 p11 of FabNewport — works in the Newport Public A significant issue facing Newporters is that Health, education, and Schools to reduce absenteeism and truancy. She nearly half of the city’s jobs are in the hospitality economic security are also volunteers at the Women’s Resource Center industry and 30% of all jobs in the city pay less connected in every way. and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community than $30,000 per year, explains Ashley Medeiros, Center (MLK Center). director of Connect Greater Newport, stating • Children with parents “People are working, yet they can’t afford to live who have steady Executive directors at these — and other — here. This affects children and families...and the employment are more Newport nonprofits agree with Ellen’s future of Newport.” likely to have access to “it takes a village” approach to making their city a health care. better place for all its residents. “We’re all trying It’s “the future of Newport” that drives these to help support families in Newport and Newport community members and requires them to • Children with working County. We don’t all do the same work, but we address intertwined social issues, improving parents are more know who does other work and does it well,” city residents’ opportunities for excellent health, engaged academically and less likely to repeat states Heather Hole Strout, executive director an integrated and efficient workforce education, and economic security. a grade or be suspended of the MLK Center. development system.” Jennifer Pereira is the Rhode Island or expelled from school Foundation's Vice President of Grant Programs. than children with non- Colleen Jermain, EdD, superintendent of “Changing that requires a change in culture and working parents. Newport Public Schools, illustrates the point climate,” explains Rhonda Mitchell, executive with a story. A school officer visited the home of director, Newport Housing Authority, noting • Rhode Islanders a child who had been absent, and he found there recent racial equity trainings coordinated who have achieved was no food in the house. He helped the family through the Newport Health Equity Zone (HEZ). a Bachelor’s degree get assistance from the MLK Center, the largest “We had uncomfortable conversations, but our or higher have nearly volume food pantry in Newport County. “If you commitment was unwavering. It (racial diversity) double the wages don’t have food, you can’t learn,” Colleen explains. is not a threat, it’s an asset. That’s the beauty of compared to residents this community.” who have only Many Newporters rely on the island’s nonprofits completed high school. to help them with basic needs that are critical Such change, the leaders agree, requires to their day-to-day lives. At the same time, not only their working together, but also • Between 2013 and nonprofit leaders are addressing disparities and authentic engagement from residents.

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