R. MICHELLE DECKER    PRESIDENT AND CEO

Welcome to our 2023 Annual Report, featuring some of the stories and ideas that drive IECF. It was a year of great impact and growth, with new ideas and partnerships around nonprofit resilience, investments into policy and advocacy with the Wingate Foundation, and planned gifts for the region’s long-term needs.

It was special to host or be part of three visits from the Gates Foundation, watch our Signature Funds expand their getting and giving, and reflect with our Board and staff on our culture and how we are positioned for growth. That journey helped us envision the IECF of the future — one with the tools, talent, and budget to continue to make sure the IE has the resources it needs to close equity gaps and build a strong middle class.

Please join us in celebrating how far we have come, and be inspired by the future we want to create. Thank you for your partnership. We look forward to a year where what we have learned, with you, becomes the strategy for building the IE’s culture of philanthropy.

NEFERTITI LONG    BOARD CHAIR

As I reflect on my first year as Board Chair, I am proud to serve alongside amazing, committed, passionate Board Members, hardworking staff, and a dedicated leader in Michelle Decker. The accomplishments made through the Signature Funds have been miraculous, including the IE Black Equity Fund raising $6 million and the CIELO Fund raising $1 million in their first year. This translated into vital funds going back into the community where they are needed. The Women’s Giving Fund, near and dear to my heart, has become a movement among IE women coming together to make a difference.

Why should the Inland Empire Community Foundation be a priority to support and grow? I like to close my eyes and visualize a vibrant community with resources, quality employment, entertainment, access to healthcare, and best-in-class education. This is the end game that IECF has in mind for the IE. All of us who live, work, and play here have a vested interest in making that happen.

Photo by Albert Angelo