We have an opportunity to launch a moonshot

As I take stock of my first year leading Greater Cincinnati Foundation, I am amazed by the power and promise of our community. The power to change lives. The power to forge compelling partnerships and work together across sectors. The power to dream big as we tackle entrenched issues and build a vibrant, opportunity-rich region.

I’m enormously proud of the work our Greater Cincinnati Foundation team has done in collaboration with each of you. And I’m beyond excited to aim even higher.

We have the opportunity to launch a moonshot, a challenging yet deeply impactful undertaking that will transform our region. What makes me so certain? I’ve met with and had conversations with hundreds of GCF donors and community partners. The vision — and will — to take Cincinnati to the next level is palpable.

There is incredible urgency to tackle regional challenges like housing affordability, quality education and workforce development. As the groundbreaking Cincinnati Futures Commission Report recently made clear, regional growth and economic mobility simply won’t be achievable without committed, collaborative and clear-eyed focus on these foundational areas.

How do we fuel powerful, sustained change? How do we center our vision for the community over the next year, the next 20 years, and beyond? How do we do what’s hard and necessary to create a place where everyone has an opportunity to thrive?

It will, of course, take many things. But I think they can be boiled down to these: thoughtful partnerships and collaboration; ramped-up donor engagement; shared vision; and trust, which is the linchpin.

Cross-sector collaboration is a GCF hallmark, but we can take it to the next level, becoming a kind of super-connector. We must lean into our deep relationships to bring together stakeholders including businesses, nonprofits, government and civic leaders, generous people and the community at large. And we must continue to create meaningful new partnerships.

Fulfilling our shared vision also demands a deeper understanding of our fundholders, who put their wealth and assets behind building a better Cincinnati. We’re working hard to understand their passions and priorities. We’re listening more, asking tough questions and adjusting accordingly. We’re committed to meeting fundholders where they are on the issues they care about, because those are the issues our larger community cares about, as well.

I’ve learned that one area where our fundholders’ passion aligns with great community need is education. With a long background in educational equity, I’m intrigued by the challenge of shoring up public education. GCF has good traction in this area, particularly in the pivotal early education, but there is much work to be done. Students’ success is often still inexorably tied to their ZIP codes. Quality education, like housing affordability, is an undeniable pathway to individual economic mobility and regional economic strength, a longtime focus of GCF.

Of course, everything hinges on trust. I believe there is already strong trust in GCF. But I believe we can do more to deepen and broaden that trust.
That means finding meaningful ways to measure impact, analyze needs and pivot, and holding ourselves accountable for community outcomes. It means building out our strategic plan and determining the best way to refine and expand GCF’s role.

It also means taking calculated risks: Becoming comfortable in a first-loss position and embracing initiatives that may fail — or soar. Making innovation less risky for municipalities, schools and other public systems to enable them to create change. Leveraging our impact investment portfolio to bring low-cost capital to meaningful projects and incentivize others to invest private capital. And optimizing the other capital philanthropy wields — social, political and intellectual.

Our community has a long and rich history of landing moonshots. One that jumps to mind is the creation nearly 180 years ago of the Cincinnati Observatory, the first publicly funded telescope in the Western Hemisphere. This magnificent asset was built dollar by dollar, with a door-to-door campaign asking friends and neighbors to contribute.

We know how to do big things.

Digging deep to understand Greater Cincinnati — its people, passions, strengths and challenges — is a labor of love. I look forward to working with you to fulfill our shared vision for this community. It’s time for our next moonshot.

Thank you,

Matthew Randazzo
President & CEO