Arsht-Cannon Fund: The Epitome of Good Philanthropy
Focus. Strategy. Persistence.
These are the qualities of the Arsht-Cannon Fund, one of the DCF’s most exciting donor advised funds.
Under the leadership of Adrienne Arsht and Dr. Christine Cannon, the Arsht-Cannon Fund is making a powerful impact on Latino families and communities in Delaware.
As we approach this year’s Delaware Hispanic Commission Summit on October 30, it’s worth highlighting its strategies.
The Arsht-Cannon Fund was founded nearly 15 years ago out of the estate of the Honorable Roxana Cannon Arsht and S. Samuel Arsht.
As far back as 2006, the fund partnered with Governor Ruth Ann Minner to create the Governor’s Consortium on Hispanic Affairs to address the community’s needs, including managing funds provided by the Arsht-Cannon Fund.
Since that time, the Arsht-Cannon Fund has invested nearly $9 million in creating opportunity for Delaware’s Hispanic families:
- Providing ongoing support for educational opportunities and attainment – through support of bilingual teachers, staff and tutors, at programs including TeenSHARP, Reading Assist, Tyler’s Camp, and Leading Youth Through Empowerment (LYTE).
- Highlighting the fact that Delaware is one of only four states that does not provide additional state resources to English learners, and that fewer than three out of four Delaware English learners graduate high school. The fund has partnered with the Rodel Foundation (also part of the DCF) and many others in this work.
- Strengthening access to health care by expanding bilingual/bicultural services and expanding staffing at organizations including the Family Counseling Center of St. Paul’s, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Delaware, the Sussex County Health Coalition, and the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware.
Perhaps most exciting, the fund has recently helped underwrite and establish a new initiative called La Colectiva. This new collaborative of Hispanic-serving nonprofits is developing new approaches to addressing the key issues, needs and opportunities of Sussex County’s Latino families. It’s a powerful collective-impact approach that wouldn’t have come together without the Arsht-Cannon Fund.
At a time when, in other parts of the country, donor advised funds are being criticized for their lack of connection to communities, the Arsht-Cannon Fund continues to prove itself to be entirely the opposite.
Its focus and strategy, their willingness to explore new approaches, its ability to listen to the communities they serve, its passion for partnership with nonprofits and other funds…. It’s the epitome of good philanthropy.
Congratulations to the Arsht-Cannon Fund. We look forward to continue learning from you and working with you.