Wilson Foundation to grant $200 million for waterfront parks, trail connections in Detroit, Buffalo
How fortune left by late Bills owner Ralph Wilson is benefiting Detroit and Buffalo
Wilson Foundation helping remake parks in Detroit, Buffalo
How Detroiters Are Shaping a Post-Industrial Riverfront Park
Sure, sometimes, the 22-acre space comes alive for the occasional outdoor concert, but for the most part, Detroit’s West Riverfront Park is pretty desolate compared to the city’s RiverWalk, just a few miles east and home to lush wetlands vegetation, family-friendly playgrounds and volleyball courts and spacious walkways that welcome three million visitors a year of all races and incomes.
Read the full article at Next City »Detroit Future City exec to lead new Center for Nonprofit Support
Detroit Future City’s deputy director, Allandra Bulger, has been named executive director of the first-of-its-kind nonprofit support and innovation center in development for Detroit, following a national search.
The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation is putting more than $5 million in grants over the next few years behind the center and has tapped the TechTown business incubator in Detroit to transfer the supportive approach and collaborative, innovative environment it has created for entrepreneurs to the region’s nonprofits through the new Center for Nonprofit Support. It’s also managing the day-to-day operations of the center, whose permanent name will be determined as part of a community engagement process.
Read the full article at Crain's Detroit Business »Right-on-Time Philanthropy at Ralph C. Wilson: Big Money Meets a Looming Problem
In 2016, NPQ wrote about the founding of the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation in Michigan. The emergence of the new philanthropy was made notable by a number of factors, including its $1.2 billion endowment and the fact that it will sunset or spend down within twenty years of its founding.
Read the full article at Nonprofit Quarterly »Child’s Play: Why Are More Foundations Giving for Playgrounds and Skateparks?
Play is critically important to a child’s development. Kids learn how to interact with the world around them through play. It helps them learn the cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills that they need to thrive. Play is considered so essential to child development that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights see it as a right of every child.
Despite that, not many foundations support initiatives that support play outside of broader education work. However, there’s a small—and growing—number of funders that do. A recent gift that fits the bill came from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
Read the full article at Inside Philanthropy »Turnaround Job: A Foundation Backs Inclusive Innovation in a “Transitioning” Region
It can be difficult for philanthropy, often based in wealthy coastal cities, to meaningfully address middle America’s ongoing economic plight. Since the 2016 election, as we’ve often observed, many funders have begun paying closer attention to those challenges. But the geographic disconnect remains.
Read the full article at Inside Philanthropy »Buffalo Trailblazers Issue- Mary Wilson: Continuing the Legacy
With the impending sale of the Buffalo Bills in 2014, most fans were united in anxiety over a single question — would the team be sold to an owner who would relocate the beloved franchise? It was a question that hung in the air for several years preceding the death of Ralph C. Wilson Jr., founding owner of the hometown team, and it intensified upon his passing in March 2014 at age 95. With so much focus on the negative possibilities surrounding the sale of the team, few in Western New York considered the incredible benefits the region could garner from the inevitable sale/
Read the full article at Buffalo News »Ralph Wilson Foundation Launches STEM Initiative in New York, Michigan
The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has announced the launch of STEM 2035, an initiative aimed at strengthening the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pipeline in western New York and southeast Michigan.
Read the full article at Philanthropy News Digest »