The Story

It all began at a 504ward Dine Around in December of 2008. LaToria Willis, Manager of Donor Relations at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, was seeking a way to get more young professionals engaged with organized philanthropy, and discussed the concept with local attorney Morgan Williams. He liked the idea, and the two decided to start a giving circle, and recruited seven others to be part of the initial “Young Professional Giving Circle” Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee met over a period of six months to develop a program from scratch – including raising operating funds, researching best practices from giving circles across the country, developing a curriculum and recruiting 18 brave people to participate in the pilot class. After one late night meeting huddled over pizza, the group decided to call itself “The Crescent Civic Engagement Fund” – and the program was officially born.

The pilot class of 18 members created two groups who focused on awarding grants in two areas, education and economic development. Through an RFP process, the two groups distributed $18,000 in grants to four organizations. The model created by the pilot class was so successful that the group decided to make this an annual program, with a new class of participants annually. As a result, an Advisory Board was created and is committed to taking the successes and lessons learned to develop the next generation of philanthropists in New Orleans.

Founding Members

• Mike DePetrillo
• Daryn Dodson
• Lauren Jacobs
• Lavonzell Nicholson
• Curry Smith
• Al Vichot
• Cherie Williams
• Morgan Williams
• LaToria Willis