Trust, Equity, and Abundance For Change - Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts

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It is an energizing time to be engaged with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts (CFWM). We are passionate about building a stronger future for our region, advancing equitable and effective philanthropy powered by the generosity of hundreds of individuals, families, businesses, foundations, and government partners- you! Together we can foster optimism and opportunity across three counties — Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden. Our experiences in the community fuel our passion and give us inspiration for the work we do and the change we want to see. We will continue to build Trust, strive for Equity and share Abundance as we #KeepPouringTEA.

With your support and that of hundreds of others over the last year, we have:

• Distributed over $3,685,000 in Foundation directed grantmaking to strengthen local nonprofits.
• Provided 781 local students with over $1,414,000 in scholarships for higher education and training.
• Engaged artists and arts organizations through our ValleyCreates Initiative and invested over $925,000 to support arts and creativity across our region.

Our grants last year provided financial support to individuals and organizations that share our commitment and drive to make change happen. In addition to our support to nonprofits, artists, and students through our grants and scholarships, over the last year we have also worked to elevate equity and opportunity in partnership with others. We invite you to read the accompanying stories that describe this work.

In the coming year, we’ll continue to provide critical funding, and facilitate the generosity of our neighbors.

At the same time, we will continue to strengthen connections in our community; create spaces for diverse interests and voices, validate and value differences, promote equity and opportunity, and enact positive social change through philanthropy.

Your donation to our Annual Fund will enable us to deepen our impact. We invite you to join us and be part of all that is happening at CFWM and throughout our region.

A Summit for Equity:
Hope, Action, and Solidarity

In the early part of 2023, nine organizations came together with a shared purpose— to confront systems that have long been inequitable and unjust and organize a summit that could help expand equitable practices in our region. The organizing partners knew that real transformation requires a collective effort to dismantle barriers to equity. The result was the inaugural launch of Equity in the 413: Western Massachusetts Racial Equity Summit, a summit designed to equip people with practical tools and real-world examples of how other organizations are putting equity into practice while offering an opportunity to connect, grow, and work toward a shared vision for more fair and inclusive communities.

“The goal is to share across sectors and create commonalities,” explained Briana Wales-Thaxton, Community Foundation Vice President for People and Culture. “So, for instance, folks will be able to say, ‘Here’s how we, across multiple geographic areas, have tried to do this work similarly, and how we learned from each other.’”

Making this happen takes a great commitment from each organization. For the Community Foundation, which has been on a journey of intentionally putting equity into practice since 2018, “it took the Community Foundation saying, ‘We will set aside someone’s time, someone’s skills, and someone’s expertise to help that process move forward,’” added Briana. “We wanted to get it done, and so it’s the tenacity and the commitment to do it—dedicating the full person power behind it to make it happen—that is most important.”

The day-long event was presented by an impressive alliance of regional organizations that included Behavioral Health Network, Health New England, Hilltown Community Health Center, the Human Service Forum, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, the Springfield DHHS Office of Health and Racial Equity, the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, and the Women of Color Health Equity Collective. Attended by over 350 professionals from Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire counties, the summit was a step toward eliminating inequitable barriers.

However, such events are more than learning opportunities—they inspire hope, action, and solidarity. And this summit in particular called upon members of our community to come together, share struggles and successes, and build a future rooted in justice and equity for everyone. “We hope that people will go through the day balancing caring for themselves and being able to create environments where they care for each other, while also challenging themselves to think about things from a new perspective,” she said. “It’s a vibe, and this combo of the vibe and having humility, being naturally curious, really wanting to care for people, and being authentic in those moments together is the only thing that makes all the other things work.”

Save the date for the second Equity in the 413 Summit, with insightful new workshops, on June 12, 2025 at Westfield State University.

Community Voices: Sustaining the Path to Equity

Over a year ago, when Senior Program Officer Jeff Markham Jr. was tasked with an ambitious yet deeply meaningful responsibility—creating a participatory grantmaking model for the Community Foundation’s Racial Equity Social Justice (RESJ) Fund—he understood this would be an opportunity that would include community in every aspect. “A lot of times community involvement really begins when folks receive funds, but the thinking of how you develop an application or an opportunity that feels inclusive of community members is something that doesn’t happen too often.”

Since then, Jeff has been working together a group of advisors—very similar to the Foundation’s ValleyCreates model which brings in artists and people who work at arts nonprofits to help advise the work. “We brought in folks who’ve worked in advocacy, dismantling systemic and structural racism work, and social justice work in the region, to advise us in the ways we should move forward [with the RESJ Fund], building out what our grantmaking strategy is going to be for the next year.”

The aim, he explained, was to create something different—a participatory grantmaking model where the community members closest to the issues at hand would have a voice. “The response was excitement because the Foundation hadn’t done anything like this…They were excited about being included in the process, but also the fact that we are opening the doors wider to make sure that there’s representation at the table of different perspectives that haven’t necessarily been accounted for in the ways that we do grantmaking, and general excitement about the prospect of situating people with lived experience at the center of how dollars will be allocated to issues that are most pressing to them.”

Supporters also play a significant role, he shared. Jeff believes their trust and commitment are essential to the RESJ Fund’s success. “We are embarking on doing something in a way we haven’t done before, and we need their trust in knowing that we are moving towards being more inclusive in our approach, which takes time if you want to do it authentically,” Jeff expressed. “We also need commitment to the work people thought was so important four years ago; their understanding that it remains important; that we haven’t eradicated systemic and structural racism; and that there are people still working diligently every day, even if it seems many have turned away from funding racial equity work.”

His words are a gentle reminder that social justice isn’t fleeting, but a deep, ongoing journey. The more uncovered, the more it is realized how much further there is to go, even when the spotlight shifts. Support is not just about funding; it’s at the heart of what keeps the momentum of equity alive, ensuring the path forward remains lit, even when the world’s attention drifts elsewhere.

To learn more about CFWM’s Racial Equity Social Justice Fund, or to get involved, please contact Jeff Markham Jr.

Inspiring Change: Voices of Our Volunteers

“Our existence is resistance to inequality, racism, and injustice. CFWM’s equity initiatives and philanthropic approaches support the much-needed work to further that resistance and uplift our communities to see better days. It is my sincere hope that you will donate to the Annual Fund and support us in this work!”

– Payton Shubrick, CFWM Trustee

“CFWM is decolonizing funding. I’m proud and honored to be a Trustee in an organization that is taking a hard look at itself, embracing accountability and putting our shared humanity first.”