As Martin Garber-Conrad prepares to retire as CEO of the Edmonton Community Foundation, he's confident the philanthropic innovation that started under his leadership will carry on into the future.
"There's still going to be lots of neat things that Edmonton Community Foundation can do even after I'm gone," he said on Episode 8 of Bloom, Taproot's podcast about innovation in Edmonton. "And, you know, I'll be keeping my eye on it and wishing them well."
The ECF is Canada's fourth-largest community grant foundation, assembling and administering capital from philanthropists and reinvesting the returns into the community. During Garber-Conrad's 17 years at the helm, the organization's assets grew to more than $700 million. That has allowed it to grant about $30 million per year.
That base of capital has also allowed the ECF to put that money to work in innovative ways. It has created new organizations to do good in the community, rolled out pandemic aid in quick and targeted ways, and found new ways to tell the foundation's stories.
Among the innovations highlighted by ECF board chair Zahra Somani when she announced Garber-Conrad's retirement in February were the Edmonton and Area Land Trust, which conserves natural areas; the Edmonton Community Development Company, which develops residential and commercial property in neighbourhoods that struggle to attract investment; and the Social Enterprise Fund, which loans money to social enterprises.
"Our mainstream work is making money with our assets, and then using those proceeds to make grants. But we also began to think that perhaps there was more that we could do with the assets themselves, in addition to the granting," he said of the genesis of the Social Enterprise Fund. "We knew that there were at least some charities and certainly some nonprofits and some social enterprises that would benefit from having debt financing ... but who would not be eligible to get loans from a bank."
The SEF has invested more than $75 million into more than 80 projects, more than $20 million of which has been paid back.
"The neat thing about social financing is that we can use the money again and again," Garber-Conrad said. "When we make a grant, the money does good in the community, but it's gone. When we make a loan, the money does good, and then when it's paid back, it can be loaned out again."
Jane Bisbee, executive director of the Social Enterprise Fund, highlighted Garber-Conrad's role in the creation of the fund in a publication celebrating its 10th anniversary. "Without his wise counsel, and the imagination to see beyond the accepted way of doing things, none of this would have been possible," she wrote.
Martin Garber-Conrad is retiring as CEO of the Edmonton Community Foundation on June 30, 2022. (Supplied)
Granting remains the bread and butter of the foundation, but even then, the organization has found new ways to respond when the need arises.
For example, when the pandemic hit, the ECF created the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund and partnered with Community Foundations of Canada and the Government of Canada to deliver the Emergency Community Support Fund in the Edmonton area. Together, the funds have granted more than $4 million to dozens of charities to help them continue to meet the needs of vulnerable people.
The Rapid Response Fund "enabled us to receive requests, deal with them in a matter of a few days, and generally have a cheque out to the recipient in a week or two," he said. "Many of the requests came from organizations that we knew and had confidence ... that they knew what was needed and that they would be able to deliver it successfully."
The ECF has also engaged in innovative ways to tell its story during Garber-Conrad's term. While it has long engaged in traditional communications, such as its Legacy in Action magazine, it also started The Well Endowed Podcast in 2016 to shine a light on donors and the good their money is doing.
The podcast, run by Elizabeth Bonkink, Andrew Paul and Lisa Pruden, has been recognized by the Canadian Online Publishing Awards, and has been a way for the foundation to get the word out when getting together in real life became impossible.
"When the pandemic hit, I was really glad that we had already got our toe in the water and knew how to do this, because I think podcasts have become incredibly important to many more people than would have been the case without COVID," Garber-Conrad said.
As the immediate needs posed by the pandemic subside, there are more challenges on the horizon, including aid for refugees from Ukraine and ongoing support for people in economic difficulty.
"The tools we have in our toolbox to help the community respond to all those challenges, I think, are strong," Garber-Conrad said.
Garber-Conrad's official departure date is June 30, and the search is on for his successor.