Next Gen

In 2002, The Erie Community Foundation launched The Fund for New Leadership (FNL) to recognize, motivate and encourage the next generation of civic and nonprofit leadership in our community. Over time, many “younger leaders” made gifts to this fund. All gifts were endowed. Interested donors then, collectively, determined the best use of available income. Over time, grants of nearly $40,000 were awarded to local charities. The current market value of the remaining FNL endowment fund is at $134,000.

We are very proud of this accomplishment. We’ve proven that “younger” people do have a voice and can make a difference. We are now building on this success by working with the Young Erie Professionals (YEP) organization to create a “Next Gen” fund.

The Erie Community Foundation will work closely with select YEP members to obtain their input on select grant requests and community needs. Some former FNL members will be serving as community and philanthropic leadership mentors for YEP participants. YEP leadership has agreed to encourage their members to make donations to a fund within The Erie Community Foundation. Finally, YEP has plans to establish a separate agency endowment fund within The Erie Community Foundation to perpetually support their organization.

If you’d like to support this important work through a charitable donation, please e-mail Kevin Moore, Vice President of Stewardship or call (814) 454-0843.