The Art of Community: Summer 2025 Message from the President & CEO
Thousands of people, like you, share the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan’s vision of a thriving region we call home.
Our supporters are conservative and liberal, young and old, rural and urban, wealthy and of modest means. Together, we help to sustain the nonprofits that improve the quality of life in our region.
There are roughly 26,500 nonprofits employing approximately 200,000 people in our seven-county footprint. They are key drivers in southeast Michigan’s economy and in our communities. Yet, many face eroding federal support that is impacting their operations.
While philanthropy cannot replace federal support, community foundations have a vital role to play. We represent the charitable interests of donors and partners, and we make communities stronger. We bring together people with shared interests, and we expand economic opportunities. We help build solutions that reflect the goals of our region in a way that makes us all better.
We convened many of our partners during our 2025 annual meeting, held June 18 at Marygrove Conservancy, to outline where we are as a foundation and where we’re going. Here are five key updates we shared:
- We received a clean audit of our 2024 year-end Assets Under Management from Deloitte and made more than $128 million in grants last year.
- Our Theory of Change is based on the idea that southeast Michigan thrives when people have access to opportunity, essential services and vibrant public spaces. We invest in five key areas — economic opportunity, health equity, youth and education, arts and culture, and public space and the environment — to support strong, connected communities.
- Renaming our Program department as the Community Impact team more clearly reflects the essence of our work. More than just a name change, we’re also making grantmaking easier and faster.
- Our new online platform, MyCF, is now the central hub for tracking grant activity, recommending grants from donor-advised funds, managing endowment information and staying connected with the Community Foundation.
- We’re launching a pilot program of Grantee Partner Tables to learn about grantees’ greatest needs and how we can align resources to help with long-term plans.
From economic downturns to the COVID-19 pandemic, our community has demonstrated strength and resilience. We continue to uphold that spirit. The Community Foundation, alongside our partners, will do what we have always done: support the organizations that help communities thrive, adapt to emerging needs and respond with purpose.
Nicole Sherard-Freeman
President and CEO
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
This message was first published in the Summer 2025 REPORT.