Sharing & celebrating highlights from this year!

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December 2023

Dear John,

As the passing days of December bring us towards the end of 2023, we are filled with gratitude. It has been a year of remarkable partnerships and milestones that have supported the expansion of our work in all of our program areas.

We’re particularly proud to have launched new work in Environmental Sustainability ([link removed]) focused on the Greater Washington region where our team lives and works. In Leadership Development, the LeaderBridge ([link removed]) initiative soared, serving 175 local nonprofit leaders and adding new partnerships and professional development opportunities with Access Coaching Collective, Spur Local, and the Inspire Leadership School to its calendar ([link removed]) . While our investment in Women and Girls Leadership and Civic Engagement more than doubled!
In Education, we released a new publication, The Education Imperative - Bridges For Schools Program Guide ([link removed]) , which provides actionable steps for how Catholic schools and dioceses can welcome and engage Hispanic families. The Guide complements the national expansion of the Bridges for Schools program, which has served schools in Maryland, Virginia, DC, and through a new partnership with the Connelly Foundation and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, now includes 13 schools in Pennsylvania.
If you’ve worked with Crimsonbridge, you’ve connected with our passionate team members and know they are committed to working alongside our local and national partners to create positive change through innovative partnerships, grantmaking, and communications strategies. From social media posts to presentations at the national conferences of Grantmakers in Education, Exponent Philanthropy, and UBS Philanthropy, Crimsonbridge team members actively promote the work of our nonprofit community partners and programs.

In this final newsletter of the year, we celebrate and share these highlights and others that have made 2023 so special.
Wishing you a holiday season full of joy!

CONFERENCES & AWARDS

The Crimsonbridge Foundation team hit the road this fall, sharing knowledge and connecting with funders at three conferences.

Founder & Executive Chair Gabriela Smith was a featured panelist at a national philanthropic investor gathering, highlighting the foundation's work in college success and sharing The College Completion Gap: An Action Guide for Philanthropy ([link removed]) .

President & CEO Danielle M. Reyes and Program Officer Robyn Attebury Ellis presented with partners, the Center for First-Generation Student Success and ECMC Foundation to attendees of the Grantmakers for Education Annual Conference in Atlanta. The session titled New Research and Promising Practices: How Philanthropy Can Help First-Gen Learners Thrive ([link removed]) shared insights, new research & data, and funding strategies to improve graduation rates of first-generation college students. Program Officer Robyn Ellis was appointed as Co-Chair of the Grantmakers for Education's Postsecondary Access and Attainment Impact Group ([link removed]) .

President & CEO Danielle M. Reyes, Senior Program Officer Caitlin Mayo, and Program Officer Robyn Attebury Ellis led a 75-minute session titled Actionable Ways to Support Nonprofit Leaders of Color ([link removed]) to funders attending the Exponent Philanthropy Annual Conference in Baltimore. The team presented strategies for funders interested in strategically supporting the leadership development goals of nonprofit leaders of color.

President & CEO Danielle M. Reyes was recognized by two organizations for her leadership in the Greater Washington region. In October, Danielle was named as one of Washington Business Journal's ([link removed]) Women Who Mean Business ([link removed]) . More recently, Danielle was honored by
Spur Local as the Barbara Harman Changemaker in Philanthropy ([link removed]) award recipient. Congratulations Danielle!
EDUCATION
Since our founding in 2015, Crimsonbridge has worked with dioceses, universities, nonprofits, and more than 70 Catholic schools to successfully introduce, develop, and implement strategies to welcome and engage Latino students and families. Based on a whole-community approach and building on the collective wisdom of principals, educators, and diocesan staff, we created The Education Imperative – Bridges for Schools Program Guide ([link removed]) as a resource for bishops, pastors, diocesan and Catholic education leaders, practitioners, and funders. The Program Guide is an informative and easy-to-use resource that presents actionable steps for catalyzing investments in Spanish and bilingual communications and staffing, parent engagement, cultural competency, and other successful equity and inclusion strategies. The Guide is available as a free download ([link removed]) on our website.
LEADERSHIP
Crimsonbridge Foundation announced $105,000 in grants to eight community partners ([link removed]) in the Women and Girls' Leadership and Civic Engagement program sub-area, including: All In Together, Chica Project, Girls on the Run DC, Girls on the Run of Montgomery County, Girls Rock! DC, IGNITE, Running Start, and She Should Run. Since 2018, Crimsonbridge has invested $238,500 in 11 local, regional, and national community-based organizations promoting women's and girls' leadership and civic engagement.
The LeaderBridge ([link removed]) team hears continual feedback from program alums that interest in leadership and professional development within their organizations is high. However, raising funds to support nonprofit professionals continues to be a challenge. We’ve set out to address this by co-writing a series of articles with our program partners to challenge perceived barriers and highlight opportunities for foundations to invest in community-based leaders. In October, we released the first article with the Georgetown University Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership titled Leadership Development: Challenging Barriers and Highlighting Opportunities for Foundation Investment ([link removed]) . Our most recent and second article with Leadership Greater Washington highlights How Partnerships in Leadership Development are Shaping the Future of our Region
([link removed]) . “Philanthropy at its best is more than dollars," says President & CEO Danielle M. Reyes. "It is meaningful engagement. Investing in leadership development is an opportunity and an actionable equity strategy for foundations and corporate funders to support leaders and organizations while building a more representative leadership landscape for our region.”
CAPACITY BUILDING
Bridges for Schools ([link removed]) supports schools in welcoming and engaging Hispanic and Latino families by providing funding and guidance to invest in Spanish and bilingual communications, parent engagement strategies, cultural competency, bilingual staffing, and more. This year, the Foundation expanded the program to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in partnership with the Connelly Foundation and served the most schools to date. Since 2018, more than 40 schools in the Archdiocese of Washington, Diocese of Arlington, and Archdiocesehttps://www.crimsonbridge.org/post/crimsonbridge-foundation-presents-seven-schools-with-the-bridges-for-schools-award-of-distinction of Philadelphia have participated in Bridges for Schools, with nearly 90% participating for more than one year. For the first time, Crimsonbridge presented eight schools with the Award of Distinction
([link removed]) in honor of their commitment to fostering a welcoming environment and building capacity to engage Hispanic and Latino students and families. All Award of Distinction schools have actively participated in Bridges for Schools for five years or more.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
This year, the Crimsonbridge Foundation added a fourth program area, E ([link removed]) nvironmental Sustainability ([link removed]) . We made $110,000 ([link removed]) in grants to five nonprofit organizations in the Greater Washington region: Casey Trees, City Blossoms, EcoAction Arlington, Nature Forward, and Rock Creek Conservancy. Since the announcement of these grants on Earth Day in April, Crimsonbridge staff have attended various webinars, in-person events and even volunteered with these new community partners. Partners Rock Creek Conservancy and Casey Trees shared recent updates on the Rock Creek Forest Resiliency Framework and a guest blog post on the ([link removed]) Nature Near Schools
([link removed]) program ([link removed]) , while Nature Forward hosted an Advocacy 101 training for community members. We encourage you to visit our partners' websites ([link removed]) for volunteer and other opportunities to get involved.
#Community ([link removed])
Our commitment to participate, engage, listen, and
learn with the communities we support.
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Explore #community ([link removed])


** Top News
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* Crimsonbridge Foundation Presents Seven Schools with the Bridges for Schools Award of Distinction ([link removed])
* Schools Embrace Language, Heritage, and Identity as Community Assets ([link removed])
* Crimsonbridge CEO Named Washington Business Journal Women Who Mean Business Honoree ([link removed])
* Crimsonbridge Foundation Announces $105K in Women and Girls Leadership and Civic Engagement ([link removed])
* Leadership Development: Challenging Barriers & Highlighting Opportunities for Foundation Investment ([link removed])

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