Learn what’s happening at the Foundation and in the communities where we work. Hear from staff and partners about their accomplishments and lessons learned along the way.
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Since November 2020, representatives from several grant partner organizations have met monthly to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in their work. This group, convened by Program Officers Chuck Colston and Megan MacDavey, has blossomed into a network that supports and learns from one another. After many months of meeting by Zoom, this group finally … Continued
Niko DelValle has been a member of the Tower Advisory Team since its first iteration in 2019. This year he joined the Tower Foundation as an intern to help support Advisory Team activities. Here Niko talks about his experience as an Advisory Team member. Back in 2019, I was at a bit of a crossroads … Continued
The Tower Foundation is shocked and saddened by the senseless mass shooting that took place in Buffalo, New York. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families as they grieve the tragic loss of their loved ones. We are also deeply concerned about our community. Our staff members live in Buffalo and are still … Continued
About eight years ago, we shared a blog post outlining our approach to Results-Based Accountability (RBA) as a tool for evaluating our grants’ effectiveness. With the benefit of a few more years of working with and thinking about RBA, a refreshed introduction seemed to be in order. Beyond that, we’re now seeing how we can … Continued
At the Tower Foundation, we are almost at the year and a half mark of a two-year pilot program looking at ways to assess the impact of general operating grants. We selected seven nonprofits with whom we had worked for some time to receive a grant of $70,000 ($35,000 for each of two years). More … Continued
Last week, I attended Mental Health Advocates of Western New York annual fundraising event. It was a milestone occasion in many ways. It was MHA’s 60th anniversary; and for many in the room, it was the first event they had been to in two years. Ironically, this event was also the last event many of … Continued
This year, the Tower Advisory Team heads in an exciting new direction. In 2022, a dozen or more advisors will come together to launch and execute a grantmaking initiative of their own making. The young people that make up the advisory team (target age is 18-30) represent a mix of the communities where we fund … Continued
Last week, I shared our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals. This week, I’ve asked three of our Trustees, Cindy Doyle, Jim Weiss, and Dave Welbourn, to join me in sharing reflections on this milestone. Each of these Trustees have championed the effort to bring an equity perspective to our work and were instrumental … Continued
For the last year and a half, the Tower Foundation has focused on bringing an equity perspective to our work. Today I am excited to share new goals we have adopted. At the Tower Foundation, we believe that young people with intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental illness, and substance use disorders should have the chance … Continued
After three cycles and over $1.6 million dollars awarded to 120 agencies, we are sunsetting our COVID-19 grants. Even though the pandemic is not yet over, a new day is dawning for nonprofits that requires our funding to change too. We are moving on from our COVID-19 funding category and embedding the lessons learned throughout our … Continued
