Impact Initiatives & Community Partnerships
The Community Foundation brings people together to help close our region’s racial wealth gap. Together, we're delivering promising solutions for some of our community’s most pressing challenges.
As a funder and convener, we partner with donors, community organizations, government, and the private sector on a wide range of impact funds, programs, and initiatives to improve the economic conditions and social well-being of our entire community.
Brilliant Futures
Brilliant Futures is a children’s savings pilot program that will provide kindergarten students at two schools with up to $1,000 in savings each year from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The Community Foundation has partnered with Montgomery County Public Schools and Prince George’s County Public Schools to launch the pilot program at Jackson Road Elementary School in the White Oak neighborhood of Silver Spring, MD in Montgomery County and Bradbury Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights, MD in Prince George’s County.
The Community Foundation has committed to funding the pilot program for two consecutive kindergarten cohorts at each school — specifically the future graduating classes of 2036 and 2037 at Jackson Road Elementary School and classes of 2037 and 2038 at Bradbury Heights Elementary School. The pilot program is expected to enroll up to 400 students between the two schools.
Community Resilience
In times of crisis, the Greater Washington Community Foundation serves as a community convener, advocate, and philanthropic first responder to ensure our region is prepared and equipped to effectively respond to challenges. We mobilize community partners and resources to protect and preserve the essential work of this region’s nonprofit sector and help ensure critical services can continue without disruption. Our goal is to safeguard and sustain efforts aligned with our mission to build an equitable, just, and thriving region.
Given recent federal actions and their destabilizing effect on the nonprofit sector and our region, our current focus is on strengthening the capacity and resilience of this region’s nonprofit sector to address urgent and emerging needs through deep collaboration, coordination, and targeted resources. This effort will help ensure the region’s critical nonprofit organizations can continue to meet urgent needs, advocate effectively, and sustain impact for the communities we serve.
DC Opportunity Accounts
The DC Opportunity Accounts Program (OAP) is a 4:1 matched savings initiative designed to help income-eligible DC residents build financial stability and save toward their long-term goals—whether that’s purchasing a home, continuing education, or launching a business.
Launched in 2019, OAP is managed and funded through the DC Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB) and has received support through private and corporate partners such as the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, Wells Fargo, and others.
Recognizing the need to provide strong pathways to economic mobility for DC residents, The Greater Washington Community Foundation became the primary administrator for this important initiative in May 2025.
Developing Families Maternal Health Fund
Administered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the Developing Families Maternal Health Fund is a strategic initiative focused on improving health outcomes for vulnerable and marginalized populations by advancing innovative, community-based solutions and advocacy - specifically around access to maternal health.
Health Equity Fund
The $95 million Health Equity Fund is designated to improve the health outcomes and health equity of DC residents. Created against a backdrop of urgent healthcare needs in the District of Columbia, the Health Equity Fund will address health disparities and social and structural determinants of health for historically underserved District residents. Mindful that health and wealth are inextricably connected, the strategy for this fund is to use an economic mobility frame to address the root causes that are causing health challenges in the first place.
Partnership to End Homelessness
Led by the Greater Washington Community Foundation and the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness, The Partnership is the first-of-its-kind initiative in DC to bring together the public and private sectors to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
The Partnership convenes public and private partners to invest in and raise awareness of nonprofit organizations working to advance housing justice through budget advocacy, policy advocacy, and public awareness building. Together we advocate for a more efficient, effective, and coordinated homeless services system with the end goal of helping more people quickly move into housing and out of homelessness.
Sharing Community Funds
The Sharing Community Funds bring together donors who share our passion for building more equitable, just, and thriving communities. With expert facilitation by Community Foundation staff, donors join together to learn first-hand about the challenges facing our community. Thanks to the generosity of this growing community of givers, together we discover and invest in visionary nonprofits working on the frontlines of our region’s most pressing needs.
Contact your local Community Foundation Giving Officer or visit your local office webpage to find out how you can get involved in this impactful fund!
Thrive Prince George’s
Thrive Prince George’s is a two-year, $4 million guaranteed-income pilot that seeks to provide greater economic stability and mobility for families in Prince George’s County.
The program, the first of its kind in the county, provides monthly payments of $800 to 50 youth (age 18-24) who are aging out of foster care and 100+ seniors (age 60+) for a 24-month period with no strings attached and no requirements tied to employment.
This public-private partnership includes the Greater Washington Community Foundation, Prince George’s County’s Executive Office and Council and the Meyer Foundation. It will be administered in collaboration with two community-based organizations: Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Prince George’s County and United Communities Against Poverty.
VoicesDMV
VoicesDMV is a community engagement initiative designed to help philanthropy, community leaders, policymakers, and others understand the diverse experiences of the people who live and work in the Greater Washington region. VoicesDMV uplifts community voice and informs community investments by The Community Foundation and our partners to better address community needs.
Reimagine
Formerly known as the Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative, is a coalition of funders committed to co-creating solutions alongside communities and people to advance systemic economic justice rooted in reimagining, redistributing, and rebalancing work, opportunity, and sustainability.
Reimagine is working toward a vision for an equitable and just Greater Washington region where each person has the agency to define what a productive and creative life means and the opportunity to lead that life which allows for material comfort, sustainability and growth.