Our History
The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA) was founded in 1980 as the Greater Tucson Area Foundation, created by local leaders to unite philanthropic individuals dedicated to strengthening our community. Over the years, CFSA has evolved, connecting hundreds of donors—individuals, families, and businesses—to the causes they care about most. Through strategic grantmaking and impactful partnerships, CFSA continues to drive positive change, improving the quality of life in Southern Arizona today and for generations to come.
1980
Greater Tucson Area Foundation established by Buddy Amos, James Burns, Jim Click Jr., Edward Moore, and Granger Weil

1980-1982
Leonard White becomes the first Executive Director.
1980
James Burns, founder of Greater Area Tucson Foundation, serves as Board Chair.
1981
Edna Amos establishes one of the first endowed funds in memory of her late husband, George H. Amos, Sr.
1983-1986
George “Buddy” Amos, Jr. serves as Board Chair.

1983
Donna Grant is hired as the Foundation’s first full-time Executive Director.
1983
Greater Tucson Area Foundation was renamed Tucson Community Foundation.
1984
Established First Family Funds honoring individuals and families who lived in greater Tucson prior to WW II and contributed to the social, cultural, and charitable growth of the community.
1985-1986
Received National Endowment for the Arts Challenge Grant to establish Endowment for the Arts Fund.

1986
Assets grow to $3.1 million.
1986-1989
Sidney B. Brinkerhoff serves as Board Chair.

1987
The Arizona Arts Award and the Igor Gorin Memorial Award are established.

1988
Awarded the first grant to the Tucson AIDS Project, beginning a long involvement in the fight against the disease.
1989
Received challenge grant from Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to raise $1.5 million in endowed funds to be matched with $1 million.
1989-1990
Received a challenge grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to establish a program funding neighborhood development. Led to a partnership with United Way, city and county governments, and the Pima Prevention Partnership to found PRO Neighborhoods.

1990
Assets grow to $7.3 million.
1990-1994
Gordon W. Waterfall serves as board chair.

1991
The HIV/AIDS Consortium was established with a grant from the National Community AIDS Partnership.
1991
Melody S. Robidoux established a supporting organization, the Melody S. Robidoux Foundation, placing the foundation in the top 50 community foundations nationwide.

1992
Harriet Silverman and Melody Robidoux established the Southern Arizona Women’s Fund. This Fund empowers women and girls to improve their lives and communities through five primary forces for change – leadership development, charitable giving, community building, research, and grantmaking.

1994
Kerstin and Spencer Block established the Buffalo Exchange Arts Award.

1994-1996
Bettina O’Neil-Lyons serves as Board Chair.

1995
Assets grow to $25.1 million
1996-1998
Dr. Anna Jolivet serves as Board Chair.

1997
The name changed to Community Foundation for Southern Arizona to reflect regional grantmaking.

1998-2000
Michael Hard serves as Board Chair.

1999
Southern Arizona Women’s Fund was renamed the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona.

1999
CFSA was awarded a $100,000 challenge grant to establish the LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund.

2000
Assets grow to $52.2 million. CFSA is ranked in the top 20% of community foundations nationwide.
2000
In partnership with local leaders, CFSA established the regional affiliate Santa Cruz Community Foundation.

2000-2002
Mary Ann Dobras serves as Board Chair.

2001-2010
Steve Alley joined CFSA as President and CEO.
2002
Center for Planned Giving (CPG) was established as an impartial resource for professional advisors, donors, and nonprofits exploring philanthropy.

2002-2004
Phil Amos serves as Board Chair.

2003
CFSA became a founding member of the Border Philanthropy Partnership designed to strengthen philanthropy on both sides of the US/Mexico border stretching from San Deigo/Tijuana to Brownsville/Matamoros.
2004-2007
Robert Friesen serves as Board Chair.

2005
Assets grow to $75.4 million.
2006
Social Venture Partners Tucson is established.

2006
Launched a $1-million Literacy for Life Coalition to promote a culture of literacy in Pima County.
2007
Surpassed $100 million in assets.
2007-2009
Carmen Marriott serves as Board Chair.

2008
Stone Canyon Community Foundation donor advised fund established.

2008
The Economic Relief and Stability Fund granted 100% of the $442,000 funds contributed to local nonprofits through the CFSA Community Investment grants. We were able to provide relief to the most vulnerable in our community – through the nonprofits that serve them.
2009
Launched Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and Cox Communications and awarded a collaborative grant to help low-income minority artists become economically successful.
2009-2011
Paul Lindsey serves as Board Chair.

2010
Clint Mabie joins CFSA as President and CEO.

2010
Planning Grants of up to $5,000 each awarded to Ajo Food Partnership, Neighborhood Stabilization in the City of South Tucson, Partnership for Women and Girls, and the Empowered Leaders Directing Elder Resources to develop their implementation plans and expand their collaborations.
2011
Responded to the events of January 8, 2011 by establishing 5 funds that received over $1,100,000 from 5,000 individuals from 48 states and 10 countries.
2011
Literacy for Life Coalition merged with four local literacy programs to create Literacy Connects.

2011-2013
Nancy Davis serves as Board Chair.

2012
CFSA convenes the animal welfare community and establishes the Pima Alliance for Animal Welfare (PAAW) to improve animal welfare through collective action. At that time, almost 13,000 animals a year were being euthanized annually in our municipal shelter, and our community needed to act.

2013-2015
R. Michael Sullivan serves as Board Chair.

2013
African American Legacy Fund is established with leadership from former board member and civic leader Dr. Anna Jolivet. The fund works to increase philanthropy to and from the African American community in Tucson.

2014
Launched the Making Action Possible (MAP) Dashboard in partnership with the University of Arizona and Southern Arizona Leadership Council. The MAP Dashboard was created to measurably improve Southern Arizona through data-driven collective civic action and education.

2014
Launched the Community Interactive, a series of engaging and informative live events addressing issues Southern Arizonans face – such as poverty, the border, education and the arts. Produced in partnership with Arizona Public Media, each event featured an accomplished moderator and a panel of experts, offering community members an opportunity to participate in a solution-driven conversation about these pressing issues.

2015-2017
Fred Chaffee serves as Board Chair.

April 2017
Launched CORE Grants Program to increase the availability of general operating support for high-impact nonprofits in southern Arizona. CORE Grants provide nonprofits with the flexible working capital necessary to maximize their impact and improve the quality of life in Southern Arizona.

2017-2021
Jan Lesher serves as Board Chair.

November 2017
Began construction at 5049 E. Broadway to build the Community Foundation Campus as a central hub for nonprofits to convene, collaborate, and grow.

December 2018
Community Foundation Campus opened to the public.
2019-2020
Claudia Jasso serves as Board Chair.

July 2019
Launched Catchafire Program to support nonprofit capacity building throughout Southern Arizona. CFSA granted year-long Catchafire memberships to 100 local nonprofit organizations in 2019, resulting in over $1.8 million in completed projects, representing over 9,000 volunteer hours and 440 individual projects.

2019
Launched CORE Donor Collaborator Program and awarded $500,000 in general operating funds to the community through the second round of CORE Grants – a 67% increase over the first round of CORE Grants. Contributing to over$200 million in funds granted to the community.

January 2020
Established the Center for Healthy Nonprofits to strengthen the southern Arizona nonprofit community by offering free and reduced-cost capacity-building workshops and training for nonprofits. Built upon CFSA’s in-depth knowledge of the nonprofit community, the Center helps nonprofit professionals and volunteers improve their ability to manage, govern, and grow local charitable organizations.

March 2020
March 2020
Established two COVID-19 Response Funds and facilitated over $3.5 million in COVID relief funding to Southern Arizona nonprofits.

January 2021
CFSA partners with The University of Arizona’s Eller Executive Education to provide nonprofit leadership and management training to local nonprofit professionals. The partnership was established as part of CFSA’s COVID-19 Response Strategy to help local nonprofits recover from the impact of the pandemic. The training, consulting opportunities, and Nonprofit Leadership & Management Certificate Program is provided free of charge to local nonprofits

2021
Jenny Flynn joins CFSA as President and CEO.

2022-2024
Styne Hill serves as Board Chair.

November 2022
Established the Nonprofit Solar Project to offer local nonprofits the opportunity to meet a significant portion of their energy needs through solar power. By switching to solar, the selected nonprofits will reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs, freeing up resources for programming or other infrastructure needs.

May 2023
CFSA opened a Little Free Library called Dog Eared Books.

June 2023
The Community Foundation, in partnership with Tucson Tome Gnome and Tucson Agenda, starts a Solutions-Focused Community Book Club to bring together interested community members from all walks of life to bond over a shared desire to make our community better for all – and be inspired by a shared reading experience!

June 2023
Together We Bloom. CFSA launched a new strategic plan – BLOOM – to sharpen our focus and refine our mission: To build a thriving Southern Arizona through philanthropy. Three new awards were created to recognize our blossoming community: the Bold Aspirations Award, Impactful Philanthropy Award, and Vital Nonprofit Award.

October 2023
The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is proud to expand its efforts to provide unrestricted operating grants to local nonprofits with the launch of the Comunidad (Community) Grants Program. This grants program was created to provide unrestricted funding to Southern Arizona nonprofits with annual operating budgets under $100,000.

November 2023
Established the Local News Initiative for Southern Arizona to help strengthen local journalism in our community and fill critical gaps in local news and information.

February 2024
Santa Cruz County Community Foundation (SCCF), a geographic affiliate of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA), was selected as a host organization for a new Economic Recovery Corps program (ERC) launching this month at 65 host locations across 44 states and territories.

May 2024
Press Forward Southern Arizona was established as one of the newest additions to Press Forward Locals, a network of chapters working to expand resources for local news nationwide.

2024-Present
Taunya Villicana serves as Board Chair.
