History
Last Updated (Thursday, 15 September 2011 18:36) Written by Administrator Monday, 17 November 2008 18:29
Over the past 20 years, Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF) has gained a reputation in our community for its expertise at building bridges between donors’ wishes and the needs of charities. Foundation offices are located at Hilltop House, a heritage building.
Created through an Act of the Legislature of Alberta in 1971, the Edmonton Community Foundation came to life in 1989.
That year, John and Barbara Poole, George and Rae Poole, and Robert and Shirley Stollery offered a gift to the Community Fund of $5 million on behalf of each of their families.
Within a year, the Board, under the leadership of founding president Bob Stollery, realized the Foundation needed an executive director. Lorne Leitch served in that position from 1990 to 1992, when he was replaced by Bill Mathewson, who served until 1994.
Former Edmonton Police Chief Doug McNally served as executive director from 1994 until 2005, significantly expanding the presence and profile of the Foundation. Under Mr. McNally’s leadership, the Foundation evolved into a distinctive and flourishing leading agency in the city.
In 2005, Martin Garber-Conrad joined the organization as executive director after earning community-wide respect for his work at E4C. Mr. Garber-Conrad’s vision is taking the Foundation in bold new directions, creating new opportunities for the Foundation to answer the community’s challenges and opportunities.
Following the example of the Poole and Stollery families, generous donors have added strength and depth to the Foundation throughout its years of operation. In 1992, Dr. Francis Winspear donated $4.5 million in assets from the Winspear Foundation to ECF. ECF received an additional $4.5 million upon Dr. Winspear’s death in 1997. In 1993, Alison B. Rice contributed $3 million, with an additional $2 million received on her death in 1994. Harry, Ralph and Jim Hole created a family fund at the Foundation in 1997. The Foundation received an anonymous gift in 2001 of $21 million – the largest single cash gift ever received by a community foundation in Canada.
The introduction of WillPower Wills Week was a highlight of 1996.
Three highlights occurred in 1998: ECF established Our Children’s Millennium Fund, launched its first public campaign to raise funds and adopted a practice to contain administration costs to 1.0% of the value of its assets.
The Foundations’ decisions in 1999 to remove the $30,000 cap limiting grant amounts payable and to approve multi-year grant funding resulted from the Foundation’s growing asset base and its increasing influence as a significant funder capable of responding to pressing community needs.
Under the stewardship of Board chair John Mitchell, the Foundation made its largest-ever grant in 2000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters Society of Edmonton & Area to support in-school mentoring.
Financial aid for Alberta Métis post-secondary students was forever improved in 2002 when the Belcourt Brosseau Métis Awards Fund began disbursing scholarship awards for the first time with over $112,000 awarded that year.
The Foundation continues its work on behalf of the community, setting new goals and developing new approaches to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In 2003, the ECF board showed its confidence in the organization and the community by setting a new goal of $250 million in 450 funds by Dec. 31, 2006. Another highlight, in 2006, was the introduction of Foundation Directed Initiatives to support high priority charitable projects through multi-year funding.
The Foundation’s achievements over the past two decades are impressive. It has become Canada’s fourth largest community foundation and has assumed a leadership role within Community Foundations of Canada.
The Foundation continues to enrich lives in virtually every sector of society, both locally and further afield.
