Supporting a resident-led approach to equitable community building

At the Wean Foundation, we believe partnership deepens impact and accelerates change. We partner with residents and organizations to cultivate the learning and collaboration required to create and sustain authentic change in our communities.

Strategic Partners

To advance the Wean Foundation community-building mission, we focus key investments to create a resourced and sustained physical landscape in Warren and Youngstown through resident-centered neighborhood revitalization.

In 2009, the Foundation formed a critical public-private partnership with the City of Youngstown to establish the city’s first neighborhood-focused community development corporation. The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) was founded to improve the quality of life in Youngstown by building and encouraging investment in neighborhoods of choice for all.

Building on the success of this work, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (TNP) was launched in 2010 as a community development corporation to empower residents and promote sustainable community development in the City of Warren.

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As community-based organizations, YNDC and TNP operate as strategic partners of the Wean Foundation. This strategic partnership is characterized by a significant level of Foundation investment, as well as:

  • A commitment to the Foundation’s values of resident engagement, race equity and inclusion, social equity, collaboration, community investment and learning
  • The organizations’ strong leadership role in seeking to achieve a resourced and sustained physical landscape in Warren and Youngstown neighborhoods
  • A deep engagement with the Foundation to achieve impact across strategic priorities. 

Together, we share a clear vision to “collectively build capacity to provide voice to residents and leaders throughout the Mahoning Valley.”

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YNDC is committed to improving the quality of life in Youngstown by building and encouraging investment in neighborhoods of choice for all. To accomplish this mission their focus is a dual approach that includes strategic investments to rebuild market confidence in neighborhoods with strong assets and broaden partnership strategies to strengthen Youngstown’s community development capacity and the citywide infrastructure supporting neighborhood revitalization.

trumbull logo

TNP is dedicated to empowering residents through programming and projects that improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods of Warren, Ohio. The vision of TNP is to transform neighborhoods into meaningful places where people invest their time, money, and energy into their homes and neighborhoods; where neighbors have the capacity to manage day-to-day issues; and where neighbors feel confident about the future of their neighborhood.

Emerging Leaders

The Emerging Leaders program is a collaborative learning exchange in which cohort members leverage their identity and experiences to radically re-imagine leadership for a future where race no longer influences how people fare in society. Through peer learning, shared experience and mentoring, participants explore concepts and insights that challenge them to examine power imbalance, make racial equity explicit, and create inclusive learning environments.

Emerging Leaders explore innovative ways to create lasting impact through:

  • A living leadership trajectory
  • An ability to apply a racial equity lens to your life and work
  • A strong and active network of peers and community leaders
  • A deeper understanding of self and purpose
  • A portfolio of relevant and powerful leadership tools

You’re a candidate if:

  • You want to contribute to a future where race has no influence on how people fare at work and in society.
  • You are boundlessly curious and seeking to explore new ideas of leadership.
  • You believe real, lasting change must be achieved at the system level and are willing to disrupt the status quo.

Resident Council

Composed of area residents, the Resident Council represents the rich diversity that makes the Mahoning Valley a vibrant community. Resident Council members, by way of their proximity to neighborhoods, use their time and talents to inform the Foundation’s resident engagement efforts.

You’re a candidate if you are:

  • A Warren or Youngstown resident.
  • Passionate about working with groups to develop and implement resident-led projects.
  • Able to make fair, equitable and objective decisions.
  • Energized working with peers.

Resident Council Members

Christine Anderson

Warren

Danielle Anderson

Youngstown

Erica Putro

Warren

This Could Be You!

For more information on the Resident Council or how to get involved, contact residentengagement@weanfoundation.org.

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Grantmaking

Funding the development and implementation of viable solutions led by organizations whose leadership reflects the racial demographics of the communities in which they work.

Capacity Building

Supporting the strong leadership, strategy and impact of Black and Hispanic/Latinx-led organizations.

Convening and Partnerships

Defining challenges, formulating solutions and taking collective action, with Black and Hispanic/Latinx-led organizations who have a stake in the decisions being made.