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The Cambridge Community Foundation has been selected among 1,400 applicants from across the country to be a finalist in a major grant program that aims to increase the role of arts and culture in community planning and development. On June 7, 2016, ArtPlace America announced that the Cambridge Community Foundation’s Central Square: Preserving Equity in a boom town project, is one of 80 projects that will be considered for its 2016 National Creative Placemaking Fund. ArtPlace America (ArtPlace), a New York City-based organization, is a ten-year collaboration among 16 partner foundations, along with 8 federal agencies and 6 financial institutions, that works to position arts and culture as a core sector of comprehensive community planning and development in order to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities. ArtPlace focuses its work on creative placemaking, which describes projects in which art plays an intentional and integrated role in place-based community planning and development. This brings artists, arts organizations, and artistic activity into the suite of placemaking strategies pioneered by Jane Jacobs and her colleagues, who believed that community development must be locally informed, human-centric, and holistic. “This is wonderful news,” said Geeta Pradhan, president and CEO of

Cambridge Community Foundation President Geeta Pradhan will interview Karl Dean, former mayor of the City of Nashville, in a forum open to the public on March 29 in Boston. Dean earned national attention for his efforts to leverage a building boom to connect neighborhoods, expand transit and build greater opportunity for local residents. He is the first Mayor in Residence at the Boston University Initiative on Cities, a program created to advance strategies to help cities serve as centers of economic growth and positive social development. The one-on-one conversation, titled Urban Identity Quest, brings together two civic leaders who have earned reputations as agents of urban change and increased quality of life. He will be interviewed by Geeta Pradhan, a catalyst in efforts to leverage expanded transportation access to increase opportunity in low-income Boston neighborhoods.  Her work was crucial to the creation of the Fairmount Corridor Initiative, which brought jobs, housing and economic investment to a nine mile stretch of Boston neighborhoods. She currently serves as president of the Cambridge Community Founding, the only foundation serving all of Cambridge, making grants to local nonprofit organizations and serving as a neutral convener working across sectors to identify critical issues and

The Cambridge Community Foundation has announced the appointment of Usha Pasi as vice president for Donor and Philanthropic Partnerships. She will work with the president, the leadership, members of the board, and donors to increase the reach and impact of the foundation. “It is an exciting opportunity to be able to add someone of Usha’s caliber to our team,” said Geeta Pradhan, president of the foundation. “She brings an extraordinary record of achievement at some of the most significant organizations and institutions in our region, and nationally.” Pasi served most recently as chief development officer at Facing History and Ourselves, which engages students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry.  She played a leadership role there, and with her team, secured $150 million to support the organization’s mission. During her tenure, Facing History recorded its largest number of donors to date; grew its endowment substantially; and, raised the largest commitments in its history. Earlier, she was director of leadership gifts and associate campaign director at the Museum of Fine Arts, during an historic campaign that reimagined and greatly expanded the museum. She