Mohawk Valley Community College, the Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE), and the Mohawk Valley Institute for Learning in Retirement (MVILR) announced Thursday that they have received a multiyear funding award from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties allowing both nonprofit partners to connect members of the regional community with more opportunities for volunteer work and continuing education.
“All of us at the Community Foundation are pleased to see the great strides that MVCC has taken with its community-focused programs and services, such as CLE and, more recently, MVILR,” said Alicia Fernandez Dicks, Community Foundation president/CEO. “Our donors can take pride in the College’s extraordinary efforts to marry and complement its academic mission with leadership and quality of life efforts such as these.”
“MVCC is proud to continue expanding our partnerships and we are thrilled about the prospect this creates for our community,” said Randall VanWagoner, MVCC president. “We are very grateful to the Community Foundation for this generous grant, which will allow us and our partners to continue expanding programming to our diverse audiences and our collective impact on the community at large.”
Through the grant, the CLE will be able to work toward connecting regional leaders with volunteer opportunities as they incorporate a volunteer and board matching program. The CLE has received previous funding from the Community Foundation, using it to expand programming to include options like the Neighborhoods Rising experience and the Board Leadership series.
“The CLE has worked with hundreds of individuals annually through its leadership development programs to ensure a pipeline of diverse and engaged civic leaders in the Mohawk Valley,” said Kristen Skobla, executive director of the CLE. “Board members and volunteers play a critical role in an organization’s ability to meet its mission, to grow, and to achieve sustainability. The CLE is excited to embark on its next community-building initiative with board and volunteer matchmaking to support regional non-profits, the backbone of our community. The CLE board and staff are grateful to the Community Foundation for their tremendous partnership and for making this next phase possible.”
MVILR, working to rebuild its membership in a post-COVID world, will use the grant money to diversify its membership, implement membership incentives, expand programming, and incorporate a few additional perks such as One-Day University, an online learning community with more than 600 archived lectures and live-streamed events with small-group discussion.
“Now starting its 27th year of providing a wide range of quality classes to its senior learning community, MVILR is excited about this new opportunity” said Nancy Ketz, president of the MVILR. “We look forward to continued growth with greater inclusion and community collaborations made possible through this grant.”
About MVCC
Mohawk Valley Community College, established in 1946, is New York State’s first community college with a mission to provide accessible, high-quality educational opportunities for everyone. As the community’s college, MVCC is committed to student success through partnerships, transfer and career pathways, and personal enrichment. With campuses in Utica and Rome, MVCC is the region’s primary provider of college education, offering 90 degree and certificate options for its enrollment of 6,000 full- and part-time students. MVCC also serves an additional 6,000 people through its corporate and community education programs, and its campuses welcome more than 50,000 people annually for community events. To learn more about MVCC and its programs, visit www.mvcc.edu.
About the Community Foundation
Founded in 1952, the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties envisions a vibrant region with opportunity for all. In fulfillment of its “Engage. Invest. Lead” mission, The Community Foundation has transformed decades of donor generosity into $100 million invested in social impact initiatives, collaborative leadership and grantmaking. Find out more at foundationhoc.org.
About CLE
The Center for Leadership Excellence was launched in 2018 as a partnership between Leadership Mohawk Valley and Mohawk Valley Community College, blending their expertise, programs, and resources into an innovative and high-impact center to address the region’s need for effective, equipped, and engaged community leaders. To develop a robust community reservoir of talent and expertise that can effectively address public challenges, the CLE will equip local residents, professionals, doers, and dreamers with the skills and professional abilities to take the lead in navigating the region through complex new challenges and opportunities of the future. Existing leadership programs in the region have shown outstanding results — but the CLE believes there is still tremendous potential waiting to be unlocked in the community’s women, minorities, small business managers, refugees, youth, and other groups that are under-represented in local leadership positions.
About MVILR
Mohawk Valley Institute for Learning in Retirement is a non-profit organization that provides local seniors with opportunities for continuing intellectual and cultural enrichment in an atmosphere that fosters learning within a supportive social network. In May 2021, MVILR partnered with MVCC’s Center for Corporate and Community Education to continue providing local retirees with rich learning opportunities without homework, exams, or grades. Now located at the College’s Rome Campus, MVILR offers opportunities for academic pursuits, health and wellness activities, social and intellectual interaction.