On January 8th, the Steelcase Foundation Board of Trustees at their quarterly meeting approved six grants to local organizations and $122,082 in matching gifts. The trustees also welcomed two new board members to the Foundation.

The new grants (see below) encompass more than $2 million in giving over the next several years and include grants for human services, art and culture, and education.

The calendar year’s end also concluded two short-term crisis-giving programs that the Foundation launched in the Fall of 2017 to provide a Foundation match for individual gifts made to areas affected by hurricanes. The crisis programs provided $15,426 in matching funds from employees and retirees. That match was in addition to $125,000 granted to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy for mid to long-term relief efforts for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

New trustees Robert C. Pew and Brian Cloyd attended the January board meeting as their first. Both are pleased and excited to be working with the Steelcase Foundation and its philanthropic endeavors (see bios below).

Robert C. Pew is a counselor, committed to helping others through his work with clients and non-profits. He is the owner of New Trails Recovery which provides varying levels of support to those struggling with addiction. Robert has worked in the addiction treatment field as a counselor, coordinator, and technician. Some of his greatest accomplishments include facilitating service trips to the Pine Ridge Reservation and disaster relief in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Robert was also the treatment provider for Eagle County, CO drug and DUI courts. Here he worked as a third party with the justice department to provide treatment to chronic drug and DUI offenders. Robert is currently working towards a graduate degree in social work. He presently serves on the board of Montford Hall, a recovery program and school for adolescents, located in Asheville, NC. Robert was also on the Steelcase B-share Engagement Council from 2014-2017.

Brian Cloyd is the retired Vice President of Global Corporate Relations and Chief Diversity Officer for Steelcase Inc and is the first non-family/CEO board member to join the Steelcase Foundation. Brian’s philanthropic work includes his current service on the boards of West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT) and Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy (UPREP) where he was a founding board member, the National Center for Arts and Technology, University of Detroit Mercy, Education Trust-Midwest, Grand Rapids Public Museum, and the State of Michigan ACLU. Brian’s previous board service includes chair of the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, as well board service for ArtPrize, Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Workforce Development Council, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Board (vice chair, Diversity, and Inclusion), Trustee for Northern Michigan University (chair), Advisory Council for Grand Valley State University College of Business, Education Reform Initiative, Student Advancement Foundation, Michigan Business Leaders for Excellence in Education, The Cherry Commission (Governor’s Commission on Education and Economic Development), and the Executive Leadership Council.

The Steelcase Foundation awarded six grants to the following organizations for the first quarter of 2018.

– Arts & Culture

Grand Rapids Art Museum

• received $175,000 toward continued support of its “Vision 2021” five-year strategic plan, aiming to engage students and teachers through innovative art education programs, continued efforts to develop diverse audiences through exhibitions and artworks that feature diverse artists, and strengthening the Museum and its community impact through multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Grand Rapids Symphony

• received $175,000 for the third year of its Symphony’s Music Education, Accessibility and Inclusion Program, aimed at increasing opportunities for West Michigan students to experience the Symphony and musical experience and providing diverse audiences access to Symphony performances through the Symphony Scorecard.

– Education

New York City Leadership Academy

• received $1,602,400 over five years to provide coaching and training to principals, assistant principals, and aspirational leaders in the urban ring of schools in Grand Rapids, with the goal of improving educational outcomes for urban students.

– Human Service

Kids’ Food Basket

• received $100,000 in support of its “Feeding Our Future Campaign,” which will build a new facility for the nonprofit, increasing its capacity for daily sack supper production from 6,100 meals each day to 15,000. Currently, there are 28,700 children in Kent County who are food insecure, so expansion takes great strides to meet that need.

– Other

Council of Michigan Foundations

• received a $9,900 grant for membership support, allowing the Steelcase Foundation to continue to receive CMF’s timely resources and support, and connect the Foundation to CMF’s more than 300 member partners.

Grand Rapids Community Foundation

• was awarded $30,000 toward its Nonprofit Technical Assistance Fund, which provides technical and organizational assistance, in the areas of organizational readiness, assessment mechanisms, best practices, and other resources nonprofits may not be able to afford on their own.

– Matching Gifts

The Foundation matched $93,579 in gifts to educational institutions, $6,245 to arts and culture $6,831 to environment and conservation, and $15,426 toward natural disaster crises.