1991 Annual Report

This report to the friends of The George Gund Foundation contains photographs of the Cuyahoga River and its contiguous lakefront, reflecting the Foundation’s increasing interest in the future of the North Coast Harbor area of the lakeshore, our continuing commitment to improving the environmental and recreational health of the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries, and our focus on enhancing the ecosystems of the Great Lakes Basin.  Our grantmaking in 1991 reflected these interests, and the Foundation contemplates more substantial commitments on these fronts in the future.

These photographs also signify the development of new priorities and guidelines for our environmental grantmaking which focus locally on urban environmental problems; regionally, on Great Lakes issues; and nationally, on policy related to the mitigation of global climate change. A discussion of our environmental quality program, along with a long term recommitment to the support of degenerative retinal disease research and a decision to refine our civic affairs agenda, took place at a June 1991 retreat that included both staff and Trustees.

During the past year the Foundation also deepened its commitment to a recently stated interest in urban design, planning and amenities with grants to a wide range of organizations such as the Cleveland Restoration Society for work in historic neighborhoods and the Great Lakes Museum for planning its new facility which will dramatically alter Cleveland’s lakefront.

Our concerns about strengthening families and improving self-sufficiency for low income persons are evident in our 1991 grantmaking, and we maintained our interest in improving human services delivery by funding efforts to create a Center for Social Work Practice Innovations at Case Western Reserve University. The Foundation’s continuing commitment to the pursuit of reproductive rights also was strengthened in the face of a changing and challenging legal landscape.

1991 also marked the fourth year of our involvement with the Community AIDS Partnership Project, a program that has provided almost $1.8 million of local and national philanthropic monies to support efforts to assist those affected by the AIDS epidemic in Cuyahoga County.

We continued our substantial involvement in support of the Cleveland community’s efforts to improve its public schools and aided the private sector in endeavors to more effectively focus its energies and resources towards the same aim.

The Foundation also sought to encourage a lively and diverse arts community in Cleveland with grants to a wide variety of arts and cultural organizations. Our interest in the arts is reflected in the photographs in this book taken by Lois Conner with her panoramic, large format view camera.  The remarkably detailed platinum prints from which this report’s pictures were made, along with the striking photographs of Cleveland’s neighborhoods from our 1990 annual report, will be displayed at the Center for Contemporary Art in the summer of 1992 for an even broader public viewing. We hope that our support of high quality photography in our annual reports and in other venues will be successful in describing the Foundation’s mission and in portraying the diverse facets of the region we serve.

This past year was also one of change for the Foundation as we moved to a more accommodating location and increased the staff from eight to eleven full-time members. We also used the opportunity of our move to update our office management and information systems and to address a number of administrative support issues.

I believe that a perusal of the descriptions of the past year’s grants contained in this report will demonstrate a thoughtful and compassionate approach to grantmaking by the Foundation.  Both Trustees and staff feel that the proof of our effectiveness can best be measured by who and what we fund. I hope that you will gain greater insight into our efforts through your reading of this report.

David Bergholz, Executive Director