Impact Stories

In 2022, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia launched a new Permanent Fund to support those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.  Grants are awarded each year through the Community Investment Funds cycle, supporting the most critical needs throughout our region.

Here is a story from its very first grantee, A Farm Less Ordinary. See how this fund is already making an impact in our region.

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Dear Friends and Donors:

We have two very special announcements to share with you today.

First, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has just adopted a new mission statement to advance equity across the region by unleashing the power of philanthropy and community leadership.

Second, we have launched a new five-year strategic plan that establishes a road map of activities to help us achieve our mission. Created by the board and staff of the Community Foundation with input from members of our greater community, the plan is structured around four overarching pillars to guide our grantmaking, fundraising, and community leadership efforts:

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Earlier this week, the Community Foundation awarded $50,000 to Melwood in support of the Fairfax County Workforce Innovation and Skills Hub (WISH).

The WISH Center is a first-of-its-kind workforce development center designed to break down barriers and create opportunities for economic empowerment and independence for the Fairfax County community. Led by Melwood’s deeply experienced and connected team and in partnership with Building Momentum, WISH offers tactical skills training, soft skills training, job placement services, career mapping, and resources related to language learning, childcare and affordable housing.

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Dear Community Foundation Friends and Supporters,

Last Friday evening, we gathered for the first time in 3 years to celebrate our region’s resilience, success, and growing sense of home and place. As always, your support literally helped Raise the Region!

More than 500 guests joined us in person and another 100 tuned in to the virtual live stream. It was an incredibly heartening reunion and opportunity to celebrate the ties that bind us all together. Your support and generosity were unprecedented. The event raised a total of $650,000, which will help the Community Foundation build a community that works for everyone. 

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Corporate and individual sponsorships are a critical tool for the Community Foundation to lead and convene the community. One of our 2022 Raise the Region Gala sponsors is Peraton, a tech and cybersecurity firm based in Herndon, Virginia. Peraton have experienced a meteoric rise since their founding in 2017, and were expected to be worth $5 billion dollars in 2021. We spoke with Stefanie Hale, Corporate Citizenship lead, about what community building means to Peraton.

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By Johnny Garstka, Financial Advisor with The Harvey Group and a native of Springfield, Virginia. 

If you’re interested in presenting or writing on an applicable or innovative topic to be featured to our network, please fill out the form here. 

More and more often, philanthropic families are working together across generations to build lasting legacies to support the causes they care about. At the same time, the common communications challenges between parents and their adult children don’t magically go away, and sometimes advisor relationships get damaged in the crosshairs.

Advisors are often acutely aware of this dynamic; studies consistently show that the majority of heirs fire their parents’ advisors. Fortunately, many advisors discover that philanthropy is an excellent tool for preventing this from happening. That is because philanthropy planning is an effective way for an advisor to engage a client’s children and grandchildren in conversations and begin to build relationships that can survive well into the future.

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On September 15 2022, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia and the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce launched the “Champions for Accountability,” recognizing more than 50 organizations in the region that have taken the initial steps towards a more diverse and inclusive workforce by diversifying their staff, executives, board, or taken other steps. CFNOVA’s Director of Insight Region® Elizabeth Hughes presented the data findings from the report.

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In 2022, the Community Foundation has been focused on supporting access to mental health care for Northern Virginia’s diverse community. As the 988 number is rolled out across the country, it’s imperative for all sectors- particularly community-based organizations and nonprofits- to understand the depth of the challenges everyday Northern Virginians face, and what our roles in the solutions are.

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The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s Innovation Fund awarded a grant of $25,390 to Smart City Works to create a Mental Health Track for its 2022 Smart City Challenge- an innovative competition that convenes diverse, wide-ranging organizations and projects virtually in the sectors of housing, transportation, health, water, and others.

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“We would hope that the recipient of this scholarship will have earned it so long as they have worked hard in studies, and have determination and a goal in life. That they have helped in community service like volunteer work where it is needed. The recipient will have honored their parents and have been a team working taking pride in their performance, with a willingness to help others.” -Virginia and Cameron Dye

In 2022, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve given out nearly a half a million dollars in scholarships. This represents the Community Foundation’s largest ever anything in all areas- the largest number of applicants, the largest number of scholars, donations, and awards. Each year, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia awards more than $300,000 in awards to more than 100 students seeking a higher education. Though all scholarships are different, the recipients often carry on the wishes of Virginia and Cameron Dye. These young adults seeking a higher education are already becoming generational leaders, thinkers, and doers.

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