Grant Oliphant and Sandra L. Vargas elected to
CFLeads Board
CFLeads is thrilled to announce that two dynamic community leaders with extensive experience in government and philanthropy have joined the CFLeads Board: Sandra L. Vargas of The Minneapolis Foundation and Grant Oliphant of The Pittsburgh Foundation. Both foundations are among the oldest and largest in the United States.
"Growing numbers of community foundations are taking on a deeper community leadership role and are looking to their peers to help them propel their work forward," said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, CFLeads Board Chair and President/CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. "Grant and Sandy are committed to peer learning that helps community foundations tackle challenging issues, pursue cross-sector solutions, engage citizens, and marshal the needed resources to improve their communities. Their energy and vision will serve CFLeads well as we help community foundations advance their community leadership practice."
Sandra
L. Vargas became President and CEO of The Minneapolis
Foundation in April 2007. Through its community grantmaking and leadership
work, the Foundation promotes constructive dialogue and action on critical
issues such as closing the achievement gap, achieving prosperity
for all, improving public sector outcomes, and realizing a more vibrant
and equitable community. In 2009, The Minneapolis Foundation adopted
a new strategic plan focused on building rewarding relationships with
donors and creating greater community impact by achieving greater
social, economic, and racial equity. Ms. Vargas had previously served
as Hennepin County administrator, the top executive position in Hennepin
County government, since 1999. There she managed a $2 billion dollar
budget and 12,000 employees.
Grant
Oliphant is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Pittsburgh
Foundation. He moved to the region’s community foundation in March
2008 from The Heinz Endowments, one of the nation’s leading private
family foundations. Grant has led a major transformation in the organization’s
engagement of key constituents, its efficient stewardship of its assets
and the development of ground-breaking initiatives to enhance services
for donors and maximize grantmaking impact in the regional community.
Grant frequently leads community conversations around critical issues
and he has taken a prominent role in building advocacy programs to support
the work of local nonprofits and the families and individuals they serve.
He is also the former Press Secretary to the late U.S. Senator John Heinz.
Vargas and Oliphant join other experienced CFLeads board members who are making community leadership a key part of their work.
CFLeads is the hub and go-to-source for community foundations committed to building community leadership as a core and enduring competency. Recognizing that it will take practical tools and the practice of new skills to improve community leadership, it is CFLeads' mission to help community foundations advance the practice of community leadership to build thriving communities.