Supporting education issues, organizations and needs in Florida
Florida Education Funders is comprised of FPN members who share an interest in supporting education issues, organizations and needs in Florida. This network offers Florida’s education funders a space to learn from each other, work together to improve the state’s education outcomes and be a voice for Florida philanthropy on key education policy issues.
Florida Education Funders Guiding Statement
Florida Education Funders will support a culture of high expectations for all students, in and out of school, from early childhood through post-secondary education, leading to career success.
- K-12 Position Paper
- Early Learning Position Paper
- Post Secondary Position Paper
- Access Past Program Recordings and Handouts
Roles:
- Provide a learning agenda on Florida-specific issues aligned with network goals
- Work on a shared advocacy agenda
- Network, potentially leading to deeper programmatic learning & funding collaborations.
Education Funders 2025 Meeting Schedule
Meet the Chair, Jesse Coraggio, Senior Vice President, Community Impact, Community Foundation Tampa Bay
In February 2022, FPN announced Jesse Coraggio as the new chair of the Florida Education Funders. Jesse has been a long-time member of this member network and previously served as Vice Chair.
Florida Education Funders Strategic Partners
The work of the Florida Education Funders is supported in part through the generosity of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Helios Education Foundation, Community Foundation Tampa Bay, Conn Memorial Foundation, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, Johnson Scholarship Foundation, and the Florida Philanthropic Network.
Lead Consultant: Bill Hoffman
Florida Philanthropic Network's Florida Health Funders (FHF) member network is comprised of FPN members who share an interest in supporting health issues, organizations and needs in Florida. The group works to be a voice for philanthropy on important health policy issues for the state.
The work of FPN's FHF is supported in part through the generosity of Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Florida Blue Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Health Foundation of South Florida, Healthy St. Petersburg, Quantum Foundation, Space Coast Health Foundation and Winter Park Health Foundation.
Who Can Participate in Florida Health Funders?
As with all FPN member networks, ongoing participation in FPN's Florida Health Funders is open to staff and board members of FPN member organizations only. The group may decide, on occasion, to open up individual events to the broader community for learning opportunities and dialogues.
Florida Health Funders Chair: Currently Open
Lead Consultant: Randy Scheid
Florida Philanthropic Network's Florida Environmental Resiliency Network (FERN) member network is comprised of FPN members who share an interest in environmental related issues in the state of Florida. The group works to be a voice for philanthropy on important environmental issues specific to Florida. FERN will meet virtually and in person several times a year to discuss how funders can forge collaboration in some key areas to support the future of Florida’s natural environment and the wellbeing of the communities you all serve. This is also an opportunity to learn where other funders are investing and where there are still gaps. Focus areas include:
- Climate Justice
- Florida Wildlife Corridor
- Red Tide
- Sea Level Rise
- Water Quality
- Solar
- Storm Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
- Natural Disasters specific to Florida
- Carbon Pricing and Emissions
- Advocacy Efforts
The work of FERN is supported in part through the generosity of Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Volo Foundation, Community Foundation Tampa Bay, and the Florida Philanthropic Network.
Who Can Participate in FERN?
As with all FPN member networks, ongoing participation in FERN is open to staff and board members of FPN member organizations only. The group may decide, on occasion, to open up individual events to the broader community for learning opportunities and dialogues.
Community foundations inspire philanthropy and strengthen communities.
Community Foundations of Florida (CFF), a member network of FPN, represents 26 community foundations working together to promote philanthropy in our neighborhoods and throughout Florida. These foundations hold more than $2.95 billion in charitable assets and give $310 million each year to support the vital work of nonprofits in our communities.
Individuals, families and businesses create charitable funds that help local communities to meet the challenges of changing times. Community foundations invest, administer, and steward charitable assets based on a set of rigorous national standards.
Each Florida community foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization created by and for the people of a particular geographic area and overseen by Boards of Directors comprised of volunteer community leaders. We are here to help donors make a positive impact on their community, now... and forever
Florida's community foundations connect people who care about causes that matter to make a difference in their communities.
Each Florida community foundation offers a simple, powerful and highly personal approach to charitable giving. Across the state, donors and their professional advisors—attorneys, accountants, financial planners, insurance agents, and others—choose to work with their local community foundation to meet their charitable goals while gaining maximum tax advantage for their giving.
The first community foundation was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1914. There are now more than 750 operating in urban and rural areas throughout the United States. The community foundation model has also taken hold around the world with more than 1,700 people internationally.
Each Florida community foundation offers a simple, powerful and highly personal approach to charitable giving. Across the state, donors and their professional advisors - attorneys, accountants, financial planners, insurance agents, and others - choose to work with their local community foundation to meet their charitable goals while gaining maximum tax advantage for their giving
Our Work
Community foundations provide a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving through:
- Personalized service. Florida's community foundations make giving easy, flexible, and effective, accepting a wide variety of gifts, including cash, stocks, property, bequests, and more. Donors can leave personal legacies by establishing a charitable fund in their name or the name of a loved one, and they can be personally involved in recommending the uses of their gift.
- Local expertise. Our professional staff has an in-depth understanding of the issues, opportunities, and resources that shape your community. We can help donors learn more about the agencies and programs that impact the areas they care about most.
- Community leadership. We invest in the long term and bring people and organizations together, convening diverse voices to address local issues and needs. Our business is community building.
Florida Philanthropic Network's Grants Managers Roundtable offers FPN members an opportunity to interact and connect with other staff and board members of foundations and other grantmaking organizations who have grant management responsibilities. The group typically meets in-person once a year, in conjunction with FPN’s annual conference, has quarterly Zoom meetings with guest presenters and monthly check-in Zoom meetings for members to share best practices, updates and learn from one another.
Who Can Participate in the Grants Managers Roundtable?
As with all FPN roundtables, ongoing participation is open to staff and board members of FPN member organizations only. The group may decide, on occasion, to open up individual events to the broader community for learning opportunities and dialogues.
The FPN Scholarship Roundtable is open to all FPN members. The roundtable creates a space for members to learn and discuss best practices in offering post-secondary financial support to students. Specifically, the goals are to
- Share and discuss best practices in scholarship programming
- Explore non-traditional scholarship designs
- Provide information that supports member's work being executed with the lens of equitable access and attainment.
- Obtain and share expertise to assist members use of data to inform its work
- Communicate best practices on how to interact with donors to assure financial aid programs meet the needs of students
- Learn how best to integrate private scholarships with institutional financial aid
We invite everyone interested to participate in meetings and discussions.
FPN offers role-specific convenings as part of the Community Foundations of Florida Member Network:
- Finance
- Programs & Community Impact
- Donor Services
- Marketing & Communications
Meetings are open to all Community Foundation staff who have responsibilities or interest in any of the four categories. Meetings are held quarterly via Zoom with the opportunity to share best practices, find space for collaboration and brainstorm through challenges together.
Who Can Participate in CFF Job Specific Roundtables?
Ongoing participation is open to staff of Community Foundations of Florida FPN members only.