Halftime Report Homepage – Halftime Report – Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation
The second half starts now
2025
Halftime
Report
A Lasting Legacy
Our founder Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. loved people. He loved the everyday difference-makers he encountered throughout his life. He loved his hometown in Southeast Michigan and adopted home of Western New York. He was an entrepreneur, an innovator, and a risk taker. He built things, connected people, and lived with joy. In our first 10 years, the Foundation’s trustees and staff have been grounded and guided by Ralph’s values as we’ve worked in service to our two regions. Thanks to Mr. Wilson’s generosity and gift, we have the privilege and opportunity to walk alongside and provide resources to support the incredible work being led by nonprofit organizations and people making a difference in our communities.
Dear Community Partners & Friends,
Over the past ten years, we have had the privilege of working alongside remarkable partners across Western New York and Southeast Michigan. As we reflect on what we’ve accomplished together and look toward the years ahead, we do so with deep gratitude—for what has been built and for the work that still lies before us.
This work exists because of Ralph Wilson’s generosity, his belief in the places he called home, and his commitment to community, teamwork, and making life better for people in Western New York and Southeast Michigan.
This 10-Year Report looks back on our first decade through timelines and highlights from each of our program areas. Together, they reflect the Foundation’s commitment to our two regions and to the partners who have transformed ideas into lasting impact.
We recognize that the real story belongs to the people and organizations doing this work every day.
Foundations can help fund ideas, connect partners, and bring a long-term perspective. But our grantee partners are the ones who know their communities best and bring the work to life. You build trust, listen to residents, navigate challenges, and create opportunities that reach people and communities in meaningful ways.
In our two regions, we have seen what becomes possible when people work across sectors, neighborhoods, and program areas. Often, it is at those intersections—where parks and trails connect with economic development, where placemaking connects with caregivers, and where workforce development connects with youth development—that some of the most impactful ideas take hold.
From the beginning, our Trustees encouraged staff to start with the end in mind. Knowing the Foundation’s time is limited has shaped how we work and pushed us to consider not only what can be supported now, but also what ideas, approaches, and models can last beyond us.
The first decade did not unfold exactly as anyone expected. A global pandemic, historic public investments, shifting public funding streams, rising community needs, and moments of profound grief and challenge all shaped the context around us. Through it all, our partners kept adapting and leading. Our Board and staff have tried to do the same: listening, learning, and adjusting along the way.
The years ahead will require that same spirit of adaptation. To use a fitting football metaphor for Mr. Wilson, the game plan matters, but so does the ability to read the field, call audibles, and move together with purpose.
This 10-Year Report is not intended to be a comprehensive accounting of every grant or partnership. It offers examples of the progress, partnerships, and opportunities that have shaped our first decade while pointing toward the work still ahead.
As we look ahead, we do so with appreciation for all that has been built and clarity about the work still in front of us. Our remaining years will require focus, flexibility, and continued trust in one another. We are grateful to continue this work alongside partners who share our commitment to strengthening Western New York and Southeast Michigan—and to ensuring that the investments we make together continue to benefit these communities long after the Foundation’s lifetime.
Yours in partnership,
Mary Wilson
Board Chair & Life Trustee
David Egner
President & CEO
OUR
FIRST
10
YEARS
From 2015 to 2025, the Foundation made more than 1,500 direct grants across our eight program areas totaling $1.3 billion. In our second half, we are projected to invest an additional $1 billion across our two regions as we spend down our endowment by 2035.
Through the efforts and dedication of our grantees and partners, the investments we’ve made in our first 10 years have helped to give young children a better start in life; provided youth the opportunity to explore new interests and realize their potential through afterschool and youth sport programs; opened doors and new career pathways for young adults; given family caregivers a chance to breathe through respite programs; built upon the assets of small towns and city neighborhoods to grow small business and civic pride; completed regional trail gaps to better connect people to one another and community assets; and strengthened the network of intermediaries providing capacity-building tools and support to the nonprofits delivering critical services and programs in our communities.
These are just a few examples and highlights of what has been collectively accomplished:
Created nearly 100 unique play spaces & skateparks through the Built to Play initiative.
More than 135 organizations collaboratively working to provide nearly 40 respite programs for caregivers.
Eliminated gaps to connect more than 250 miles of regional trails across 16 counties in our two regions.
Deployed over $30 million in lending capital for small businesses in under-resourced communities that lack access to capital.
More than 140,000 young
children impacted and served
by early childhood programs
PEDALS and Help Me Grow.
Supported 40 intermediaries
providing resources,
coordination, and support to
nonprofit organizations.
86 grants made supporting
skills-based training programs
and community colleges.
Paid $1M directly to teens to share their stories and
afterschool ideas leading to more than $4M in grants to 93 afterschool providers.
We are proud of the relationships and partnerships we have forged in our communities across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors that have helped to guide our grantmaking strategies develop community-informed initiatives and coalitions that are driving toward a shared vision.
Watch and hear from the people behind this work as we reflect on “the first half.”
Making
The most
of the
moment
Knowing that the Foundation’s lifetime is limited, our trustees and staff were galvanized by a sense of urgency to find unique ways our resources could make a substantial and immediate impact in the communities we serve. While the grantmaking strategies within each of our program areas were being developed and honed during our early years, the Foundation made historic investments that have the potential to bring about transformational benefits to the communities we serve.
$60M Transitional
Legacy Grants
In 2015, as the Foundation’s operations were being created from the ground up, we acted with urgency, distributing $60 million in transitional legacy grants that supported Mr. Wilson’s personal passions and historical giving priorities during his life. These grants also included establishing several permanent endowments at our regional community foundations. The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Legacy Funds at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and Rochester Area Community Foundation began distributing grants annually in 2016 and will continue beyond the Foundation’s life.
$200M Parks & Trails Initiative
On October 17, 2018, on what would have been Mr. Wilson’s 100th birthday, the Foundation made a historic commitment honoring his legacy by committing $100M in each of our two regions to support free, public spaces that could enhance quality of life and better connect communities and people to one another. That original $200M commitment doubled to more than $400M, supporting not only capital investments, but community engagement, design, organizational capacity, and the establishment of maintenance endowments. To date, we’ve helped eliminate gaps in more than 250 miles of regional trails and supported the development of two of the most significant urban parks in the country: Ralph Wilson Park in Buffalo, which kicked off its second phase of construction in 2026; and Ralph Wilson Park in Detroit, which opened in the fall of 2025. Read more about this work in our retrospective evaluation: Building Together: Lessons from Transformative Public Space Investments.
$200M Arts & Culture Initiative
While arts and culture is not a funding priority of the Foundation, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragile operational health of a sector that plays a vital role in our regions’ identities and economies. In response, the Foundation’s trustees challenged staff to develop a one-time, $200 million strategic initiative within its Economic Development portfolio. Combining immediate support with long-term sustainability, the Foundation established two endowments while simultaneously distributing $7.5 million in annual funding until those endowments are fully vested over 10 years. This support, now and in perpetuity, provides annual operations support to 24 of the regions’ largest arts and cultural organizations. The investment also includes capacity support for the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to steward the endowments, advance sector-wide efforts to improve access and inclusion, and oversee a $500,000 annual grant program designed to strengthen community-based arts and cultural organizations. The Foundation also provided three $5 million gifts to the Motown Museum, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, and The Strong National Museum of Play capital campaigns. This historic commitment was designed to make an immediate and long-term impact, strengthening the resilience of arts and cultural organizations as they enrich our communities and contribute to our regional vitality for years to come.
A Closer Look At Our Focus Areas
The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, in collaboration with our partners and grantees, is realizing Mr. Wilson’s vision of strategic investments across several focus areas. While the focus areas have remained the same from the beginning, the grantmaking strategies within them have developed and advanced on varying timelines.
Take a look at the change we, in collaboration with our grantees, partners, and subject-matter experts, have been able to make.
Realizing a
Community’s VIsion
Quality of life means something different to everyone. As our team at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation works to advance our mission of improving quality of life across Western New York and Southeast Michigan — a total of 16 counties representing hundreds of cities, towns, and neighborhoods — we have intentionally built relationships with nonprofit, public, and other philanthropic partners over this decade and supported work that elevates the voices and needs of residents in those communities.
Check out a few examples where we’re seeing a community’s vision come together through strategic planning and investments, and the hard work of those leaders and residents on the ground turning those ideas into reality.
Story 01
Port Huron & St. Clair County
According to Port Huron City Manager James Freed, “If people are experiencing joy in their towns, they are more likely to stay here, live here, and invest in their futures here. And parks bring joy.” Thanks to the collaboration and vision of local leaders on Michigan’s “Thumb Coast” — along with the support of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation and other public-private partners — the community of Port Huron and the broader St. Clair County have redefined what’s possible with and for its residents.
“We actually have a millage now, which we’re very fortunate that our residents passed by over a 70% margin. So that is another real indicator that these innovative play spaces and things that we’re doing in the parks is valued by the residents.”
– Nancy Winzer, Parks & Recreation Director, City of Port Huron
With its unique history and geography that includes 140 miles of shoreline, St. Clair County in Southeast Michigan is uniquely poised to leverage its natural and cultural assets for economic development. To this end, the Blue Meets Green initiative was formed in 2010 as a county-wide, place-based Economic Development Strategic Plan bringing together a collaboration of public and private organizations and businesses that work to advance economic prosperity in St. Clair County.
At a time when the future of local parks and recreation was uncertain in the lakeside town of Port Huron, community leaders had a bold vision — to create vibrant outdoor spaces that would get kids and families outside, encourage play, and strengthen the community. They recognized and heard the need for gathering places, trails, and recreational opportunities that would transform their town.
With alignment across many of the Foundation’s grantmaking strategies, our team has been able to support that community vision and provide the funding needed to turn ideas, some of which were 30 years in the making, into reality. Investment in the transformation of McMorran Plaza has grown into a movement, revitalizing downtown Port Huron, completing 22 long-overdue Bridge to Bay trail connections, and inspiring other communities to dream bigger. The community also tapped into the resources made available through the Foundation’s Built to Play initiative with The Skatepark Project and KABOOM! to implement the community’s vision and design for a new skatepark, destination playground and many other innovative play spaces. With grants ranging across the Foundation’s Economic Development, Youth Sports & Recreation, and Parks & Trails portfolios, the Foundation didn’t just fund projects — it strategically partnered with the community to realize its full potential. Residents are celebrating a renewed sense of pride, businesses are growing, and families are engaged in outdoor activities like never before. With strong local support, including the passage of a dedicated millage, this legacy of play, connection, and economic growth will continue for generations to come – long after 2035.
Story 02
Buffalo’s East Side
On Buffalo’s East Side, generations of residents, small business owners, cultural leaders, and neighborhood organizations have carried a vision for stronger corridors, restored landmarks, and expanded opportunity. Through the WNY Regional Revitalization Partnership, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation joined public, private, and philanthropic partners in a $300 million effort to align investment in Buffalo’s East Side, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, supporting community-led momentum at a meaningful scale and turning long-held community priorities into lasting progress.
“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for over 15 years, and it felt really good to see different factions of the community that had been disconnected, feeling inspired, and finding that energy together through this.”
– Paul Harris, Board Member, Central Terminal Restoration Corp.
Across Western New York, the Regional Revitalization Partnership (RRP) reflects a belief that lasting economic change requires more than one funder, one project, or one plan. It requires listening to residents, investing in local leadership and aligning resources around places where opportunity can grow. Building on earlier collaborative models like East Side Avenues, the RRP brings together $200 million from New York State, $81 million from philanthropy, and $19 million from municipalities to support targeted investments in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester.
For the Foundation, this strong and strategic collaboration created the opportunity to make a substantial commitment at a meaningful moment in time. As a spend-down foundation, we are continually asking where our resources can have the greatest impact in the time we have. Through the RRP, the Foundation committed $67 million to invest deeply in three communities we care about, while leveraging investments across several of our portfolios and strategies, including place-based community and economic development, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and more.
In Buffalo, the work is centered on the East Side, where historic corridors, anchor institutions, and neighborhood organizations have long carried the vision and determination of the community. Investments are helping support places like the Broadway Market, Buffalo Central Terminal, and the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission (MSAAHCC), while strengthening the small businesses, cultural assets, and community spaces that give these neighborhoods their identity.
The importance of community ownership is central to the approach. As MSAAHCC Executive Director Terry Alford shared, past plans often failed because “the community didn’t feel they had any ownership, any vision.” The RRP is designed to work differently by aligning public dollars, philanthropic capacity-building, and local leadership behind priorities shaped by the people and organizations closest to the work. Across the East Side, that progress is showing up in workforce training, small business support, historic preservation, neighborhood reinvestment, and renewed community spaces. It is also changing the way people talk about what is possible. From long-standing anchors to emerging entrepreneurs, these strategic and coordinated investments are helping communities turn long-held visions into visible progress, and creating places where people want to live, build a business, grow a family, and invest in the future.
Story 03
Detroit’s Neighborhoods
In Detroit, community vision shows up in the parks residents asked for, the gathering spaces neighborhoods needed, the small businesses growing along commercial corridors, and the greenway connections taking shape across the city. Through the Strategic Neighborhood Fund, the blossoming Joe Louis Greenway and support for community development organizations, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has collaboratively invested alongside residents and partners to help turn those priorities into lasting neighborhood change.
“The pavilion and that building is there because the community asked for it, because we had no meeting spaces.”
– RuShann Long, Joe Louis Greenway Advisory Council
In Detroit, realizing a community’s vision means supporting the people, places, and organizations that help neighborhoods thrive. Through the Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF), the Foundation joined with the City of Detroit, Invest Detroit, and corporate and philanthropic funding partners over the last decade to support a resident-informed model for neighborhood revitalization — one rooted in planning with residents, strengthening commercial corridors, improving streetscapes, investing in parks and supporting housing stability.
As part of the initial $30 million pilot, SNF became a cornerstone of the Foundation’s approach to place-based investment in Detroit. With a combined $17 million in grants from the Foundation since 2017, SNF has grown from three pilot neighborhoods into a broader citywide strategy that has helped leverage more than $250 million in coordinated neighborhood investment. Today, SNF 3.0 continues to refine that model across ten neighborhoods, ensuring that investment is grounded in each community’s distinct assets, priorities, and hopes for the future.
This work also reflects the way the Foundation’s program areas can reinforce one another in service of a broader community vision. Through investments connected to Entrepreneurship & Economic Development, Parks & Trails, Nonprofit Support, and more, the Foundation has supported commercial corridors, small businesses, public spaces, community gathering places, and the nonprofit organizations helping residents turn ideas into action.
Equally important has been investing in the people and organizations closest to the work. Through support of the Enterprise Community Partners CDO Fund, the Foundation is part of a collaborative effort to provide flexible, sustained operating support to more than 30 community development organizations across Detroit. These organizations are trusted by residents, understand local needs, and play a critical role in stewarding progress over time.
The Joe Louis Greenway is a natural extension of this neighborhood-centered approach. Shaped through community input from more than 8,000 residents, the Greenway will connect neighborhoods across Detroit and into surrounding communities, linking residents to parks, schools, jobs, commercial corridors, and the riverfront. In Southwest Detroit, that vision is already taking shape, with the completed Southwest Greenway connecting neighborhood streets to the Detroit Riverfront and Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park. Together, the Strategic Neighborhood Fund, the CDO Fund, and the Joe Louis Greenway represent a layered strategy for lasting change: investing in neighborhood centers, in the organizations that support them, and in the connective infrastructure that brings communities together. From vision to action, this is how communities lead — and how the Foundation can help ensure investment follows.
Communications for Culture Change
We’re using our communications to inspire others to embrace and drive cultural change. Because once you can shift the narrative, you can shift mindsets and actions to truly help transform communities.
Tight Knit | Caregivers & Workforce Documentaries & Podcasts
Tight Knit shares stories that reflect the Foundation’s commitment to equitable pathways in work and caregiving, bringing narrative depth to the policies and pathways building a more inclusive economy. The podcast and documentary series features the lived experiences of people across Southeast Michigan and Western New York navigating jobs, caregiving, and the systems that have shaped their lives. For example, one episode follows Mark Roberts of Elwell, Michigan, who lives with dementia and relies on his service dog. From modern apprenticeships to family support, Tight Knit explores what helps or hinders people in their pursuit of meaningful work.
DON’T RETIRE, KID | AWARD-WINNING AD CAMPAIGN
In partnership with Project Play and ESPN, the Foundation helped spark a national and local conversation about the growing number of children leaving sports too soon through the award-winning “Don’t Retire, Kid” campaign. Through a localized regional campaign, the Foundation connected families, coaches, and community leaders with resources and community conversations developed through its Project Play Southeast Michigan and Project Play Western New York initiatives. The campaign generated billions of media impressions and helped reframe youth sports participation as a community responsibility, not just an individual choice. Through this work and grantmaking, the Foundation earned the first ESPN Sports Philanthropist of the Year Award in 2020 as part of its annual Sports Humanitarian Awards.
NYMI SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM COLLABORATIVE | LOCAL JOURNALISM
Recognizing both the lack of news coverage on caregivers of older adults and the need to move beyond a crisis-only narrative, the Foundation helped launch the New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative in 2019. Its inaugural project, Invisible Army: Caregiving on the Front Lines, united journalists, academic institutions, and community partners from both regions to examine caregivers’ experiences while investigating credible, community-driven responses to the challenges they face. By exploring not only what was working, but how and why it worked, the reporting helped caregivers connect with resources and deepened community and civic leaders’ understanding of this often-overlooked issue. Receiving several journalistic accolades, the initiative has demonstrated the power of collaborative, evidence-based journalism to drive understanding and culture change around complex social issues.
Halftime
Financials
Foundation Assets
Annual Grants Paid
Annual Payout Rate
Total Grant Commitments
(2015-2025) By Geography
Western New York
$655,011,018
50.1%
Southeast Michigan
$650,213,390
49.8%
Outside Geography
$1,128,000
0.1%
Total Grant Commitments: $1,306,352,408
Total Grant Commitments
(2015-2025) By Focus Area
Parks & Trails
$420.5M
Youth Sports
& Recreation
$126.4M
Early Childhood
$39.9M
Afterschool
$42.8M
Young Adults
& Working Families
$110.9M
Entrepreneurship
& Economic Development
$411.5M*
Caregivers
$78.3M
Nonprofit Support
& Innovation
$80.8M
*Includes $200M Arts & Culture Initiative
Trustees & Staff
Board of Trustees | 2016
From Left to Right (Back Row) Jeffrey C. Littmann (Life Trustee & Board Chair), Jerry Mazurkiewicz (Committee Member), David Colligan (Trustee), W. Frank Fountain (Trustee) From Left to Right (Front Row) Mary Owen (Life Trustee), Mary Wilson (Life Trustee ), Eugene Driker (Life Trustee Emeritus)
Board of Trustees & Committee Members | 2022
From Left to Right (Back Row) Ray Telang (Trustee), W. Howard Morris (Committee Member), Mary Wilson (Life Trustee & Board Chair), David Colligan (Trustee),David O. Egner (President & CEO), Monique Wells (Committee Member), Mary Owen (Life Trustee), Jerry Mazurkiewicz (Committee Member) From Left to Right (Front Row) W. Frank Fountain (Trustee), Eugene Driker (Life Trustee Emeritus), Jeffrey C. Littmann (Life Trustee),Dr. Thomasina Stenhouse (Committee Member), Not pictured: Elizabeth Woike, Trustee
Board of Trustees & Committee Members | 2025
From Left to Right (Back Row): David Colligan (Trustee), Mary Wilson (Life Trustee), Monique Wells (Committee Member), W. Howard Morris (Committee Member), Mary Owen (Life Trustee & Board Chair), Jeffrey C. Littmann (Life Trustee) From Left to Right (Front Row): Elizabeth Woike (Trustee), Ramesh “Ray” Telang (Trustee), Dr. Thomasina Stenhouse (Committee Member), Hon. Victoria A. Roberts (Ret.) (Trustee)
Remembering
Eugene Driker—
a life trustee since
its founding
85YRS. | SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
Thank You
This Halftime Report could never detail every person, every organization, or every partner who has contributed to our work — there have simply, and fortunately, been too many of us — every day for 10 years, working, creating, and innovating to make Western New York and Southeast Michigan the thriving, equitable places Mr. Wilson envisioned for all. We’ve worked tirelessly — and will continue — to make these regions the greatest places we can all call home, with opportunities and prosperity for every resident.
For the next 10 years, every step that we move forward together is a tribute to Mr. Wilson’s belief in the power of the Midwest community, collaboration, and his unwavering commitment to building a future where everyone thrives.