The Communities of Giving Legacy Initiative® (CGLI), a fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, recognizes the importance of endowment-building as a sustainable means of inspiring philanthropy for and within communities of color. CGLI Council Members all share a desire to “pay it forward” in honor of those who helped them succeed by creating a legacy of success that will encourage collective giving to support positive change in the lives of youth of color living in low-income communities.
Mission
The mission of the CGLI is to cultivate positive change in the lives of trailblazing youth of color living within Western New York. CGLI accomplishes this mission via endowment building, engaging strategic partners and intentional community connections.
Goals
1. Provide an endowed vehicle for collaborative grantmaking;
2. Inspire philanthropy within and for communities of color in Western New York;
3. Cultivate the next generation of philanthropists of color; and
4. Create positive change in the lives of trailblazing youth of color.
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To learn more about CGLI or any of its initiatives below, please call (716) 852-2857 or email cgli@cfgb.org.
We are grateful for the generosity of those individuals, families and organizations who support our endowment.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has generously supported the work of the Communities of Giving Legacy Initiative over the years. Currently, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is providing support through its Catalyzing Community Giving Program.
Legacy Access Donors
• BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York (HealthNow Healthy Living Fund)
• Charles Balbach
• Ruth Matthews
Close Up Washington, D.C.
Success Looks Like Me
GM Tonawanda Engine Plant
Leadership
CGLI Council Officers:
Ruth Bryant, Chair
Robert Lowery, Vice Chair
Tanya Staples, Secretary
Sean Mckinnie, Treasurer
CGLI Council Members:
Michele Agosto
Tammy Alsace, Ph.D.
Thomas Beauford, Jr.
Tracey Cleveland
Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D.
Steven K. Gathers
Danis J. Gehl, Ph.D.
Karla E. Kawenniiostha General
Leah M. Halton-Pope
Oswaldo Mestre, Jr., Chair-Elect
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Derrick Parson
Talia Rodriguez, J.D.
Honorary Council:
Donald Boswell
Jennifer J. Parker, J.D.
Lou Santiago
Hon. Hugh B. Scott
Alphonso O’Neil-White
Karen Lee Spaulding
The Young Philanthropists
“If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, I can achieve it…So I’m here to tell you what you can do.”
– Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Success Looks Like Me® Launch 2012.
In March 2016, The Communities of Giving Legacy Initiative (CGLI) launched The Young Philanthropists (TYPs) for high school students. TYPs participate in a program designed to spark their curiosity about grantmaking, community impact and philanthropy. After hearing from community leaders and philanthropists in the community, TYPs have the opportunity to award two $1,500 grants to worthwhile community organizations.
In June 2021, high school juniors completed The Young Philanthropists (TYPs), a teen leadership program that provides hands-on experience working with the pillars of philanthropy. TYPs learned about investing for nonprofit purposes and root cause analysis, which led to rich conversations around systems and symptoms of social justice in the youths’ communities. Upon program completion, students were honored at a virtual Capstone Ceremony, during which they also awarded $1,500 grants to the Buffalo Urban League and The Belle Center.
Below are some videos from our Success Looks Like Me® Role Model Project over the years. Click to watch them and to learn more about the good we do together.
Emerging Philanthropists of Color
The Emerging Philanthropists of Color (EPC) initiative is a unique giving circle of the Communities of Giving Legacy Initiative (CGLI). It offers access to people, places and experiences for entrepreneurial individuals of color who are enthusiastic about collective giving. As a result, joining EPC is a life-changing experience.
Benefits
An EPC membership provides members with the rare opportunity of being both mentor and protégé. Members have special access to civic leaders and philanthropists of color on the CGLI Council for mentoring, networking and inspiration. In addition, members have numerous opportunities to share their experiences with the youth who participate in CGLI activities.
Networking
Social gatherings with people of color
Opportunity to “Pay it Forward” to the next generation
Participation in the Community Foundation’s 21st Century Fund
Collective giving: Granting to organizations within our community that support communities of color
Personal and professional development
EPC Membership
Membership is $300 per year. That fee is divided up and $100 goes toward the CGLI Endowment Fund and the remaining $200 is pooled with your fellow cohort’s funds to create a giving circle. Through the giving circle, EPC members will award two grants in 2022 to organizations whose work positively impacts youth of color in the city of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, or Lackawanna.
There are two membership dues payment options:
One-time payment of $300 (due upon registration)
Five (5) monthly payments of $60 (final payment due by August 31, 2022)
Sponsored by the Communities of Giving Legacy, the Close Up Washington, D.C. Experience is an annual eight-month journey into civic education, culminating in a trip to Washington, D.C. in late June. It provides students with opportunities to engage with fellow high school peers from around the country and the world. They also learn about our government and democracy during the week-long civic engagement trip.
Participants in this program commit to eight months of social change. The highlight of the program is learning in the classroom. The classroom in this case is the foundation of democracy; our nation’s capital. Our youth will visit everything from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to the Smithsonian Museums — and much more, all while interacting with peers.
Experiences like this are possible thanks to the generous support from the community. If you would like to sponsor a student, please email cgli@cfgb.org.
Pay It Forward Awards
Each year, the CGLI recognizes four outstanding individuals or organizations that embody its mission of cultivating positive change in the lives of trailblazing youth of color living within Western New York. Awardees are honored at the annual Pay It Forward Awards in November.
The Pay It Forward Awards recognize personal and professional accomplishments and how those actions increase philanthropy in communities of color. Emphasis is placed on service to the community and educating the next generation, with a focus on showcasing community champions that reflect the multicultural and ethnic diversity of the CGLI mission.
The 2021 recipients were: Terence Jenkins, Waterfront Elementary School; Stan Martin, HOPE Buffalo; Dinorah Santos, The Belle Center; and the Hispanic Women’s League.
In June 2021, high school juniors completed The Young Philanthropists (TYPs), a teen leadership program that provides hands-on experience working with the pillars of philanthropy. TYPs learned about investing for nonprofit purposes and root cause analysis, which led to rich conversations around systems and symptoms of social justice in the youths’ communities. Upon program completion, students were honored at a virtual Capstone Ceremony, during which they also awarded $1,500 grants to the Buffalo Urban League and The Belle Center.