Sally Gambrell Bridgford finds harmony in life, in yoga and in leading her foundation.

As president of The Gambrell Foundation – a Charlotte-based philanthropic institution launched by her mother in 1988 – Sally is using that harmony to steer her organization toward addressing some of Charlotte’s most pressing societal needs.

Foundation For The Carolinas will celebrate our region's philanthropic spirit at our 2020 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, March 25, at the Charlotte Convention Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. One of our region’s premier nonprofit events, the Annual Meeting convenes 1,700 leaders from the philanthropic, corporate, nonprofit and civic sectors. We hope you'll join us!

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation – the primary grantmaking arm of Foundation For The Carolinas – is helping to shape and support our community through its grantmaking to local nonprofits. With grants targeting programs that help children, family stability and social capital, CMCF also helps advance the work of Leading on Opportunity.

Professor Nish Jamgotch Jr. is building a unique legacy by honoring local humanitarians through his yearly award, from Red Ventures' Ric Elias to UNC Charlotte heroes Riley Howell and Reed Parlier.

We are thankful for the generosity of our fundholders and our community partners, whose ongoing commitment to our region is an inspiration.

The philanthropic, public and private sectors worked together to make major impact in 2019. We are looking forward to even more collaboration in 2020.

To address our community's affordable housing shortage, Foundation For The Carolinas led a $50 million private-sector fundraising campaign for the Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund. FFTC kickstarted the fund with a $5 million program-related investment, the largest of its kind in our history.

More than two decades after leaving a $35 million planned gift, Lucille Giles' legacy continues to touch lives through the Lucille Puette Giles Endowment Fund. Not only has the fund maintained its original value, but it's also granted nearly $60 million to organizations such as the Latin American Coalition, Carolina Thread Trail, Time Out Youth and many others.

The Leading on Opportunity council is reshaping the way the community looks at economic mobility, from improving access to preschool to increasing funds for affordable housing. After a 2014 study ranked Charlotte last in economic mobility among America’s 50 largest cities, the community rallied.