How Does Civic Engagement Help Close Gaps in the Community?
A recent visit to Live Theatre Workshop offered a powerful example of how civic engagement closes gaps in the community. Thanks to support from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona's (CFSA) Environmental Sustainability Fund, TEP, Solar United Neighbors, and more than a dozen donors, the theater installed solar panels that will save approximately $8,000 annually, reduce carbon emissions, and help sustain arts programming for Tucson families for years to come.
This is civic engagement in action: people using their generosity, knowledge, partnerships, and commitment to strengthen the community they love.
At CFSA, we see the needs of nonprofits and the strength already present across Southern Arizona: generosity, leadership, lived experience, creativity, local knowledge, and a deep commitment to one another. Civic engagement helps connect those strengths to community needs. It includes voting, but it also includes the everyday ways we show up for our community.
In philanthropy, money matters. Of course it does, but communities need more than just funding. They need relationships, trust, shared leadership, reliable information, and the wisdom of the people closest to the challenges. That vision is reflected in CFSA’s new Bloom With Us strategic plan, which aims to strengthen the region’s civic backbone by connecting people, organizations, resources, and information so we can work together more effectively
This month's action items are especially personal to me:
Double Your Impact for Local News
The first $75,000 in gifts to the 2026 grant round will be matched dollar-for-dollar by local & national donors by Oct. 21st. Give today to strengthen local news across Southern Arizona.
Learn more from our Press Forward Regional Lead, Danyelle Khmara.
Nonprofit Leaders, Share Your Experience
Once again, CFSA needs to hear from nonprofits across Southern Arizona through our 2026 Nonprofit Funding Assessment, which is open through Sept. 16th. The information you provide will help us understand how changes in funding are affecting nonprofit organizations.
Civic engagement builds trust, fosters belonging, and reminds us that Southern Arizona is worth investing in. Our region is defined by the people who keep showing up: nonprofit leaders, educators, faith communities, business owners, volunteers, journalists, advocates, donors, and neighbors. I see you, and I thank you for helping strengthen the civic fabric we all rely on.
Steady on,
Jenny Flynn
President & CEO
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
