Join Our Anniversary Celebration!

Our 50th Anniversary

CMF members, trustees, staff and partners joined in kicking off our year-long 50th anniversary celebration during CMF’s 50th Annual Conference in November 2022. Throughout 2023 we look forward to continuing the celebration with you through regional events, shared storytelling, thought leadership and much more! 

Regional Events

Join philanthropy peers, nonprofit leaders and sector partners for networking, idea-sharing and collaborative conversations during this special series of in-person regional gatherings. These events will also feature compelling thought leaders who will inform our future visioning and inspire our thinking. Save the date below and click on each city to learn more about the gathering and associated information. 

  • 3/20: Midland
  • 4/26: Kalamazoo
  • 5/18: Gaylord
  • 6/28: Detroit (in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison)
  • 9/06: Marquette
View All Events

Our New Community Video Series

As we continue CMF's year-long 50th anniversary celebration, we are thrilled to share the first installment of a special new video series. Throughout the year, you’ll hear voices from across our robust network highlighting impactful partnerships, leading-edge practices, transformative policy efforts and support for all the people who power our sector.

In this first video, founding CMF president Dottie Johnson reflects on CMF’s earliest beginnings, and joins Rob Collier and Kyle Caldwell in sharing what inspires them as they think about our storied history and all the future possibilities for Michigan philanthropy.

In the second video, we hear from several CMF members about learnings from their own equity journeys, what equity means in the communities they serve and what is needed to support our communities in the next 50 years and beyond. 

In this third installment of our 50th anniversary video series, we hear from CMF members about why they engage in policy and advocacy efforts and the opportunities we all have to advance systemic change for the communities we serve.

Join us in celebrating CMF's 50th anniversary and stay connected with the latest updates on social and with the hashtag #FutureOfOurSector. 

Anniversary Committee

We are grateful for the leadership and guidance of CMF’s 50th Anniversary Committee, who are providing thought partnership and advisory counsel in the design of our year-long anniversary celebration. 

  • Chip Hansen, Charlevoix County Community Foundation (Co-Chair) 

  • Audrey Harvey, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation (Co-Chair) 

  • Holly Johnson, Frey Foundation (Co-Chair) 

  • Sara Morley LaCroix, Morley Family Foundation (Co-Chair) 

  • Faye Alexander Nelson, W.K. Kellogg Foundation  

  • Caroline Altman Smith, The Kresge Foundation  

  • Lizabeth Ardisana, The Skillman Foundation

  • Carolyn Bloodworth, Consumers Energy Foundation 

  • Zosia Eppensteiner, Community Foundation of Marquette County 

  • John Erb, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation 

  • Phillip Fisher, Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation 

  • DJ Jones, Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation 

  • Kelley Kuhn, Michigan Nonprofit Association 

  • Donna Niester, James C. Acheson Foundation 

  • Kate Pew Wolters, KRW Foundation 

  • Shannon Polk, Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation 

  • Sakura Takano, Rotary Charities of Traverse City 

  • Raquel Thueme, Ruth Mott Foundation 

CMF Community Voices 

CMF Community Voices features a series of conversations and insights from leaders across our community of philanthropy. This curated collection of blogs and Q&As lifts up inspiring voices from changemakers providing reflections in the areas of Equity, People, Practice and Policy, with equity at the center. 

We are pleased to share a variety of blogs authored by CMF members, that call us in to reckon with our history, consider how we work with and in communities, how we can build bridges to advance racial equity, and how we celebrate and recognize the power of differences. These are the first of many installments of CMF Community Voices as we continue our year-long future-focused 50th anniversary celebration.

Interested in contributing to CMF Community Voices? Connect with our team!

CMF Community Voices

Our Storied History

Initiated and created by Michigan foundation leaders, CMF was one of the first statewide, regional associations of grantmakers in the country. It began as the Conference of Michigan Foundations in 1972, serving as an annual gathering for grantmakers to connect and learn together. We invite you to learn about our CMF community’s earliest beginnings, groundbreaking public-private partnerships and funder collaboratives that shaped the efforts and partnerships led by CMF members today: Visit Our State of Generosity (OSoG).

 

OSoG is a partnership of CMF, MNA, MCSC and the Johnson Center and is supported by several CMF members. OSoG captures, preserves, analyzes, and shares the developments, achievements, and experiences that made Michigan a State of Generosity.

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