Engaging Communities, Empowering Giving N e w s f r o m t h e D e l a w a r e C o m m u n i t y Fo u n d a t i o n
Winter 2015
Bringing Delaware Into Focus The DCF has taken on the new initiative as part of its expanded mission âto build a shared vision for Delaware, grounded in knowledge, inspired by the common good and advanced through philanthropy.â âThe DCF is a strong organization with a proud history of helping individuals and organizations build permanent charitable resources for Delaware,â DCF President & CEO Fred Sears said. âBut our board recognized that our state has great needs, and we have the capacity and the will to do more.â Many other community foundations, including those in Boston and Arizona, lead indicator projects to facilitate dialog and action to improve residentsâ quality of life. Gov. Jack Markell joined the DCF to launch DelawareFocus.org at the Baby Grand in Wilmington.
The new DelawareFocus.org website.
On Oct. 19, the Delaware Community Foundation launched the publicly accessible website DelawareFocus.org, the keystone of the DCFâs new community engagement initiative.
DCF Indicator Project DelawareFocus, which is Delawareâs ïŹrst comprehensive statewide indicator project, is an initiative to help the community develop a data-driven, statewide civic agenda and align actions and resources.
âBy undertaking this project, driven by data and research, the Delaware Community Foundation will help provide an objective view of our challenges and contribute to implementing solutions,â Governor Markell said. Alan Levin, former director of the Delaware Economic Development OfïŹce, spoke at the afternoon launch at Delaware Technical & Community Collegeâs Owens Campus in Georgetown. âExcellent quality of life is essential for a thriving business community and a robust economy,â he said. âAnd we can be much more effective in improving quality of life by using metrics to understand our strengths and weaknesses and monitor the impact of our collective efforts to improve.â Continued on page 4