1. Building a Strong Coalition to Serve Those in Need in Summit County
September 24, 2018

2. Presenters
John Garofalo, VP of Community Investment, Akron Community Foundation
Beth Knorr, Director, Summit Food Coalition

3. Foundation was established in 1955 with a 1 million dollar bequest from one of Akron’s well known philanthropists
Currently, $225 million in assets
600+ funds
Since its inception, over $150 million reinvested back into the community
Focus of our 4 board discretionary, reactive grant making priorities:
Education
Health and Human Services
Arts and Culture
Civic Engagement and Enhancement
Our desire was to become more of a proactive grant maker

4. 2015: Creating Measurable Community Impact
Identified 5 key issues impacting our community:
Employment
Early Childhood Poverty
Transportation
FOOD INSECURITY
The Aging Senior Population

5. ACF’s commitment to addressing Food Insecurity
Partnered with Summit Food Policy Coalition
Hired a consultant to organize a series of strategic planning sessions with experts in the community
Over 60 individuals participated in the strategic planning sessions
There already was a collaboration but at the time, each were working in individual silos

6. 2015: Strategic Planning Sessions
Identified opportunities for collaboration around four strategic goals:
Creating a culture of healthy eating
Supporting the development of a system of food entrepreneurs
Establishing public policies that support healthy local food, sustainable land use, and neighborhood and economic development
Creating year-round, affordable access to nutritious food for every resident

7. And a fifth, internal goal
Ensuring the organization’s ability to implement the strategic plan and provide both leadership and financial stability to the group, something the community foundation saw as key to its success.

8. ACF’s commitment to support the Summit Food Policy Coalitions
Once priorities were identified, Akron Community Foundation committed over $150,000 over a three year period (plus assisted in raising additional dollars needed) for the implementation of the strategic plan

9. Impact on Coalition Work
Director position
Internal development
Re-strategizing
Pulling partners together
Future funding plans

10. Director Position Enables functioning of the collaborative
Understand expectations will shift
Networking

11. Internal Development How will you engage your partners?
What is the structure for the organization?
Critical for tackling the mission of the organization.
Internal Development

12. Restrategizing Revisiting the goals and objectives
Developing a clear work plan
Focus on relationship development
Collaboratively building the framework for a just,
sustainable, and vibrant local food system

13. Pulling partners together
Restrategizing enabled us to have clearer options for partner engagement
Work plan provides focus without a loss of flexibility
Strong relationships lead to work that benefits the community
Access: Provide support to organizations and people seeking to increase access to nutritious and local food in our communities
Advocacy: Advocate for policies that support access to nutritious local food, sustainable land use, and food as a means of economic development
Education: Educate partners, stakeholders, and community members on emerging issues, opportunities, and active local work
Entrepreneurship: Support local food entrepreneurs and encourage opportunities to aid in their success

14. Future Fundraising Plans
Contracting with organizations who focus on development and communications has been key
Work plans and strong partner engagement lead to stronger budgets and clearer opportunities for grants and individual support

15. What would we do differently?
Make director full time sooner 01
Focus on internal development before making a big public splash 02
Develop a fundraising plan beyond the first three years 03

16. Contact Info
John Garofalo
Beth Knorr