A Shift from Program to Partnership

This November we announced a new framework that will guide the work of Victoria Foundation, changing the way we align our resources, strategies and personnel to partner with the Newark community to take on the root causes of intergenerational poverty and inequality.

Our goal is to support and uplift the power held by communities to create generational change for themselves in Newark. We know we will not get there by sitting in our own offices and coming up with our own plans. Instead, we want to develop funding strategies in close consultation with community members, organizations and leaders, with special priority on the leadership of those most proximate to the issues we hope to address.Through this co-creation process, we aim to develop interconnected strategies that advance the goals articulated in our new framework for community power and self-determination.

To support this new way of doing business, we are changing the roles and titles of our program team. Our program staff will become "strategy officers," rather than "program officers," to emphasize the shift from an arms-length program monitor to partnership and co-creation in the development of funding strategies. As of January 2022, Stephanie Greenwood will lead the Foundation's work on our new Economic Justice priority as a Senior Strategy Officer and Brianna Suárez will be the Strategy Officer leading the Foundation's work on Youth Self-Determination.These two colleagues bring years of experience in the field, relationships with Newark nonprofits and community leaders, and strong commitment to shifting philanthropic practices toward equity.We look forward to supporting their leadership as they listen, learn and facilitate an equitable process to stand up funding strategies within our new framework. (Please note that we are seeking a new colleague to lead our Building Community Power priority.)

This staff change is one of many that are in progress to align our work more closely with the priorities of communities, and we know there are more to come. We are excited about these shifts and committed to staying agile and receptive as we continue to work toward our new vision and mission. Please join us in welcoming our colleagues Brianna and Stephanie to their new roles.