The Plan was created by the board and staff of the Community Foundation with input from members of our greater community. It will serve as an inspiration and road map for the organization’s work and impact in the coming years.
Our Vision
To help build a community that works for everyone
Our Mission
To advance equity across Northern Virginia through philanthropy and community leadershipOur Values
The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia is committed to building a community that works for everyone.Our community is stronger when all people are respected, welcomed, and invited to share their assets and contributions in community building.
We work to bring about a more equitable and inclusive prosperity that marries our economic strength with the full breadth of our diverse community.
We are wholeheartedly devoted to our neediest neighbors and most vulnerable and marginalized populations, and work tirelessly to better meet their needs.
We do nothing alone at the Community Foundation. Please join us in grant making, dialogue, outreach and advocacy.
Our Strategic Priorities
Social and Economic Mobility
To promote the social and economic mobility of Northern Virginians, we will:
- Partner with and invest in organizations with existing trusted relationships in the communities they serve, including programs that help local residents access and claim existing financial benefits, provide skills-based trainings that lead to living wage jobs, and promote increased or guaranteed income programs for low-income families
- Use stories to highlight the assets, talents, and interests of our underserved communities, promoting their achievements with a perspective of positive change
- Elevate underrepresented voices to advance a whole community narrative
- Publish Insight Region® data that help clarify the challenges to social and economic mobility, then partner across sectors to develop shared solutions
Racial Justice and Equity
To promote racial justice and equity, address the root causes of such inequities, and identify policies, practices and cultural messages that create disparate outcomes, we will:
- Develop stronger relationships with Black and minority-led advocacy organizations across Northern Virginia to better support their work
- Develop a permanent endowment for racial justice and equity to serve as a forever source of support for such organizations
- Conduct educational events that discuss where racial and ethnic inequities have existed and continue to exist in Northern Virginia
Inclusive Systems of Economic Growth
To promote more inclusive systems of economic growth, we will:
- Advocate for diversity in Northern Virginia’s business leadership that is more reflective of the demographics of the region
- Invest in organizations and initiatives that provide resources for minority-led and minority-owned businesses
- Develop more effective partnerships with local chambers of commerce that help promote and address the needs of Black, Hispanic, women, and other minority business owners
- Invest in workforce training and skills development programs that are readily accessible by people living in under resourced communities
- Produce Insight Region® reports in partnership with other members of the data community to promote more inclusive systems of economic growth
Community Resilience
To strengthen community resilience, we will:
- Support programs that help the region adapt and transform in the face of change, uncertainty, unpredictability, and hardship
- Support and encourage civic engagement, civic education, and community-based journalism
- Help bridge what divides us with civil conversations and dialogue
- Use our discretionary funds to promote community resilience in the face of developing emergencies and disasters
Growth
To continuously grow local philanthropy, we will:
- Prioritize and grow The Permanent Fund for Northern Virginia, a forever source of critical support to help shape the region’s future
- Prioritize and grow donor created funds at the Community Foundation and co-invest with donors for greater community impact
- Build the Community Foundation’s organizational capacity to ensure philanthropy’s seat at the table for the coming decades and centuries
Become a partner in this work.
Support the Community Leadership Fund
The Community Leadership Fund makes possible our work to create accessible pathways to more inclusive economic growth, address systemic racism, promote social and economic mobility, and improve community resilience across our region.LEARN MORE
Support the Racial Justice & Equity Fund
The Racial Justice & Equity Fund for Northern Virginia is a permanent endowment to support initiatives and organizations striving to eradicate systemic discrimination across our region. Help us establish an endowment for this work.LEARN MORE
Establish a Fund of your own at the Community Foundation
Donor Established Funds allow the donor to remain actively involved in supporting issues that are most important to you, while simultaneously supporting the region in which you live, work and play.LEARN MORE
More Ways to Get Involved:
Attend Events, Volunteer on a Grants or Scholarship Review Committee, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. your Northern Virginia story, or simply Contact Us so that we can meet you.
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Questions?
Questions?
