Community Initiatives

In recent years, GAR has helped initiate projects in response to persistent community needs. The following is a brief description of many of those initiatives.

Summit Education Initiative

 Summit Education Initiative (SEI) was created in 1996 by a group of leaders in the community from local business, foundations and higher education. Its mission is to engage and mobilize the people and resources in Summit County to significantly improve schooling and learning for all children.

Learn More About SEI

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) is a capacity-building resource organization that launched in 2001. It was founded by community leaders from both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Its mission is to nurture excellence in nonprofit leadership, management, and governance practices through training, partnerships, and referrals to the highest-quality services and resources. 

Learn More About CNE

 Project Connect

 Since the mid-1990s, technology has been a concern for community nonprofits. After studying various solutions, GAR asked Info Line of Summit County to expand its mission to include a technology training, referral and information component. In 1999, "Project Connect" was created to address the technological and connectivity needs of nonprofit organizations in the area.

The Fund for Our Economic Future

The Fund for Our Economic Future is an unprecedented collaboration of more than 100 private and corporate foundations seeking to improve Northeast Ohio’s economy. Through its grant-making activities, the Fund for Our Economic Future supports organizations that have the potential to strengthen the entire region. Launched in 2004, foundations, organizations and individuals have contributed over $60 million to the fund.  

The fund collaborates with others in the 16-county region to improve the region’s economic competitiveness in four action areas: