Miami Foundation | Sunday, September 9, 2012
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT PRODUCED BY THE MIAMI FOUNDATION | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 Miami is a community that attracts people with big ideas and aspirations. Thousands of people each year choose the Magic City as their place to live, learn, work and play. We at The Miami Foundation asked: What is it that makes this place so special? And, what can we do to capitalize on those things? By continuing to invest in our aesthetic, the many things to do and our large welcome mat, we can position Miami to compete with great global cities. Read on to discover what we learned, why it is important and how you can help make Miami greater. YOUNG TALENT – Inside, read about DEEPER DIVE – Scan the blue QR HIDDEN GEMS – Miami has great, young, urban professionals who are codes with your mobile phone to instantly exciting things that you may have not choosing Miami to live, work and play visit our website and discover more about seen or visited: places, neighborhoods, after graduation. Their reasons vary from that program, idea or person. It’s easy to attractions that are off the beaten path. professional opportunities to quality of do and fun too. Don’t miss these gems in the following life. All agree Miami is the place to be. pages...and experience them in real life. Photos: Freedom Tower (Ian Ibbetson), beach image (© Sergey Borisov/istockphoto.com) and Marlins Stadium (Image provided by Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau) 2OM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT PRODUCED BY THE MIAMI FOUNDATION The Miami Foundation provides civic leadership, bringing people together to tackle issues of concern in our community. Working together with our donors who established their private foundations with us and many community partners, we leverage collective knowledge, creativity and resources for a greater impact than any one of us could make alone. By connecting philanthropy with community needs and Louis-Albert H. Jolivert and Javier Alberto Soto opportunities, we work to build a Greater Miami. Make Miami greater How do you People often ask us to define The Miami Foundation’s focus. Our answer is that we share a desire with you, our neighbors, to make Miami want to change Miami, greater. As stewards to a $150 million permanent endowment designed to improve our community, we are uniquely positioned to take the long view on or the world? its growth and progress. Know a problem that needs solving? Our society is increasingly mobile and our community increasingly global, often giving people the opportunity to live anywhere. You, along with more than 2.5 million people from more than 70 countries, choose to call Greater Have a creative spark and the drive to do more? Miami home. Yes, we have world-class sports teams, renowned beaches and nightlife, lush farmlands and a vibrant urban core. Beyond these instantly recognizable assets, however, we wanted to understand the bonds between Miami and you. The Miami Foundation It is from this vantage that The Miami Foundation has embarked on Our exists to find Miami: soul of the city. help you innovative and effective ways to Our Miami will foster a stronger sense of community, advance quality of life initiatives and lead to a more vibrant economic make an impact and social environment. with your philanthropy. As part of Our Miami, we have collected and analyzed county-wide data that provided insight on an important three-year study called Soul of the We can help you Community funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This study explored what residents like most about where they live and which factors play the biggest roles in connecting people to their place. Perhaps achieve anything you want more importantly, how those factors contribute to our economy. even if you thought it was never possible. We discovered that we have a lot in common. Whether you are a second generation Cuban-American college student at the University of Miami, or a retired Jewish woman living in North Miami Beach, we all appreciate the Miami aesthetic, how welcome we feel, what there is to do and what we can learn while doing it. Our Miami highlights the assets that abound around us and Six reasons sheds light on areas in which we still have work to do. to choose us Some of these will be easier to address than others. This is where The Miami Foundation will begin. From the basis of the data, we will support when thinking about your private foundation community initiatives, advance policies and nurture solutions that promote college degree attainment, attract the best and brightest young talent to Miami, develop a stronger sense of community and raise the quality of life for all area residents. Approach. Our team of philanthropic advisors will help you develop an approach to your philanthropy that reflects your personal values and We believe intuitively – and our research confirms – that younger Miamians interests. hold the key to our future success. The leaders of tomorrow are today’s recent graduates, young professionals and emerging creative class. But the Context. Together with you, we plan a gift that makes the most sense question is: What can Miami do to develop, attract and retain the best and in the context of your financial situation, your legacy plan, your lifestyle, the brightest people? How do we ensure that these leaders of tomorrow your family and your philanthropic goals. make their homes and their livelihoods here today? Expertise. Our professional staff is nationally respected for leadership It is important to note Our Miami is made possible because over our 45- in philanthropy, grantmaking, financial management and exceptional year history more than 700 Miamians have chosen to start their private customer service. foundations with us. We are fortunate to work with such a generous and thoughtful group. Fun. When you partner with us we take care of the increasingly complex laws, accounting, tax and compliance issues – freeing you up to enjoy We invite you to explore this publication, learn more about our spectacular making gifts to the causes that you care about. city and then determine for yourself what Miami is to you – and more importantly, what you’d like Miami to become. In the coming weeks we’ll be Accountability. We believe that charitable investments should be announcing a number of ways that you can get involved, including public expected to produce positive returns, just as it is expected from financial art displays, grant contests and an exciting challenge to give back to Miami. investments. Thank you for your interest in making Our Miami a better place to live, learn, work and play. Empowered. Our donors are informed and strategic because we share our knowledge and findings with you through regular reports, educational forums, donor briefings and site visits. Javier Alberto Soto Louis-Albert H. Jolivert President and CEO Chairman, Board of Trustees The Miami Foundation The Miami Foundation Young Talent Jason Atlass grew “I was used to boating, the beach, to the grocery store and gym, up in South Florida and left for living near my friends and family.” and is looking forward to Brickell Tallahassee to study accounting and CityCentre – a development finance at Florida State University. In May 2012, he finally came home, featuring shops, condos, a hotel, “When I graduated, it was the and now does consulting work for apartments and office space. downward spiral of the economy,” Grant Thornton International. Since says the 26-year-old. “It was nearly arriving, he’s been promoted, and There’s also the food. “New York impossible to land a job.” sees plenty of potential for growth. has the best restaurants in the world,” he says. “You move down He eventually secured a job in He compares Miami to New York for to Miami, and you’re not missing Tampa, and later New York, but its convenience and accessibility. anything; the food is just as good always had his heart set on Miami. As a Brickell resident, he can walk and diverse.” ourMiami.org | #ourMiami | @MiamiFoundation SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT PRODUCED BY THE MIAMI FOUNDATION SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 3OM Expanding investment in Miami’s creative communities BY MATT HAGGMAN What roots people here, on the other hand, are strong cultural offerings, We are uniquely diverse in Miami. physical beauty including parks and More than three-fourths of us are from green spaces, educational offerings, somewhere else and more and how welcoming a community is than half foreign-born. Our to different people, the study found. institutions, like the city These were cited even more often itself, are young in years. than jobs and safety as producing And it’s a place often loyalty to a place. marked by dramatic change. The study found that attachment In the last decade Miami’s greater impacts the bottom line: places downtown population has nearly where residents were more attached doubled. Groundbreaking arts venues showed higher rates of local economic like the New World Center in Miami development. Beach opened amid a wider cultural awakening. Our universities have The Our Miami project by The grown exponentially: a metropolitan Miami Foundation builds on area that didn’t have a public research university four decades ago now ranks Soul of the Community by 7th per capita in the U.S. in college taking a closer look into the students. state of our community. It is a Which is what makes Miami so timely assessment, giving us all exciting: it’s an increasingly urban, a chance to take stock of our cosmopolitan city that is literally coming to be before our eyes. rapidly changing community. Yet, finding a broader, shared sense Knight Foundation’s mission is to of community remains elusive.