Donor Spotlight: Rose Giles
Rose Giles, founder and CEO of the Virginia Higher Education Fund, has had a lifelong desire to help educate others. She committed 25 years of her career to Richmond Public Schools as a Speech Language Pathologist and has always been deeply involved in her community. The latest chapter of Rose’s philanthropic journey, however, began amid one of the most difficult seasons of her life.
According to Rose,
“My nonprofit learning journey began when I was recuperating from an accident that left me with severe back and hip injuries. It was during that difficult season that I made a commitment to live a more impactful life when my health improved. (When you're flat on your back you have a lot of contemplative time!) As my health improved, my quest to live a more impactful life led me to research the Nonprofit Learning Point, a Nonprofit Management certificate program previously offered by the Community Foundation in partnership with VCU.”
The Virginia Higher Education Fund
In 2010, Rose formed the Virginia Higher Education Fund (VHEF), a local nonprofit corporation, that merged three of her passions: helping underserved students, brand development, and event planning. Six months later, she leveraged knowledge she gained in a Nonprofit Learning Point fundraising class to launch VHEF’s signature fundraising event, Jazz Inside Out, which will celebrate its 13th year in July. The event will be held at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with music on two stages and more than 400 guests.
Through the event’s success and the generosity of its donors, Virginia Higher Education Fund has supported hundreds of students of limited economic means pursuing post-secondary education by providing scholarships, books, emergency financial aid and mentoring activities.
Looking to the future, VHEF is focused on expanding on an exciting fundraising partnership with presidents of university alumni associations. In addition, VHEF will work with counselors across Virginia to double their scholarship support over the next five years, benefiting low to middle-income, single mom households that have high school seniors planning to attend a 2- or 4-year college.
Our Partnership
The partnership with the Community Foundation continues. Rose notes, “The Virginia Higher Education Fund endowment at the Community Foundation shows our Board of Directors' commitment to sustainability. Our investment in building a long-term philanthropic resource to support operations is an investment in the future of hundreds of struggling, underserved students in Richmond and the counties we serve, with an emphasis on single mom households.”
Rose has found peace of mind, knowing that an agency fund at the Community Foundation will help ensure Virginia Higher Education Fund can continue its good work well beyond her tenure. The Community Foundation is proud to partner with more than 35 small and large nonprofits in our region who have similarly found an agency fund to be an important tool in securing the financial health of their organizations.
If you would like to learn how to establish an endowment fund, please contact our team at philanthropy@cfrichmond.org to schedule a conversation.