Our Strategic Roadmap

Toward a bright, bold future

In late 2022, our Board of Directors approved a new Strategic Roadmap that charges the Foundation to grow the philanthropic resources available to the Sacramento region over the next three to five years and enhance our leadership activities. It also ensures our efforts are rooted in — and advance — diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Strategic Roadmap was informed by in-depth interviews with diverse stakeholders, benchmarks comparing the Foundation to peers in California and nationally, and reams of internal data. What emerged from the process was an encouraging picture of our collective accomplishments. Also present was a theme that, to enhance our collective impact, we must be bolder. 

The team who crafted the Strategic Roadmap — staff and members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, including Elaine Abelaye-Mateo, Karen Baker, Kathy McKim, Cassandra Walker Pye, Kate Stille, Martin Steiner, Renee Taylor, Steven Weiss, and Clarence Williams — kept that insight front-of-mind, and updated our vision and mission statements to reflect our aspirations for the future of the Foundation's work:

• Our vision: We envision a thriving and resilient region where generosity and collaboration create equitable opportunity.
• Our mission: We lead, serve, and inspire enduring philanthropy for a just and vibrant Sacramento region.

To pursue these, the Strategic Roadmap names two principal goals:

• Enhanced Community Impact & Leadership: We are committed to ensuring Foundation-directed grantmaking and community leadership reflect and are guided by the voices of the communities we serve. This means creating opportunities to receive direct feedback from community members and committing resources to help our partners effectively and sustainably advance solutions that drive meaningful change. In the coming year, we'll engage with you — our nonprofit partners, fundholders, and other members of our community — to understand where you see the greatest needs in our region and where community-driven philanthropy can make the greatest impact. Then, we'll use those insights to guide our future areas of focus. This will include restructuring our grantmaking to serve as an advocate on aligned issues and leveraging funding from within and outside of the area to address community needs. 
  
  

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• Resource Growth & Diversification: Simultaneously, we will inspire a new level of philanthropic giving in the region, ensuring a much greater level of support is available to address the needs of the captial area now and into the future. This will include growing giving through a focus on increasing unrestricted and legacy giving and ensuring our fundholderbase is a reflection of the communities we serve.

These goals are supplemented by two supporting goals:

• Elevated Brand Identity & Communications: We will enhance our communications efforts to engage and educate our audiences around key issues, simultaneously building community and inspiring philanthropy. 
• Strengthened Internal Capacity: We will make critical investments in the resources needed to position the Foundation for increased impact, including our systems, processes, and our team.

Each goal is supported by objectives, and tied to measurable outcomes and associated strategies. Importantly, they are grounded in the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), advancing the following areas:

• Organizational Culture: We will foster a dynamic and impact-centered environment built on trust and belonging.
• Human Resources: We will implement equitable opportunities for staff across all areas of human resources.
• Governance: We will ensure the Board of Directors and committees reflect the region, with DEI informing all decision-making.
• Stakeholder Communications: We will attract a diverse range of stakeholders and create strong relationships with current stakeholders to inspire generosity that is equitable and inclusive.
• Community Leadership: We will foster a more equitable region through strategic investments, convenings, and voice.
• Programs & Scholarships: We will ensure the Foundation’s processes are responsive to the region’s present and emerging needs.
• Advocacy: We will publicly support issues that align with initiatives and address communities’ needs, especially those impacted by structural inequities.

These goals are also supported by correlating objectives, measurable outcomes, and strategies — and, like all of our work, are based in our core values, which describe the ways we strive for excellence on behalf of all those we serve:

In pursuing a bolder approach to our work, we are following the model set by the forward-thinking leaders of the past whose efforts have guided the Foundation to this point over the past 40 years. Now, as we define the shape of our work into the future, we are excited to work alongside you — our partners in the community — to inspire bold philanthropy in the Sacramento region for years to come.