On September 17th, around 50 CFF members and invited guests gathered at New York Health Foundation for the 9th CFF Annual Gathering.
The evening featured
- A presentation by Syracuse-Onondaga Food System Alliance, our 2025 CFF Champions Award recipient
- A special farewell to two founding CFF members
- A keynote presentation by Dara Cooper, co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance
Among her many accolades and accomplishments, Dara is also a founding member of the HEAL Food Alliance, and served on the Movement for Black Lives policy table and leadership team. She also helped create Liberating Investment in the Food & Farm Ecosystem (LIFE), which mobilizes resources for frontline communities across the US.
Food and drink was supplied by Bascom Catering, a catering company based out of the South Bronx.
Julia McCarthy, our host at New York Health Foundation, introduced Syracuse-Onondaga Food System Alliance (SOFSA). SOFSA is an independent food council in Central New York. They won the 2025 Champions Award in recognition of the diverse and thriving network they have become. They have spearheaded many successful food system innovations over the years. Executive Director Maura Ackerman presented on the organization’s programming and impact.
Adam Liebowitz, CFF Director, then gave an update on CFF programing. He shouted out the new cohort of our Seeding Power Fellowship, who were in attendance.
Adam presented parting gifts to the night’s two honorees: Ruth Goldman of Merck Family Fund and Barbara Greenberg formerly of Levitt Foundation and Kenneth Goldman Donor Fund. Both women have been a part of the CFF steering committee for over twelve years, but are leaving the network this year. They shared some reflections and parting wisdom to the gathered funders as well.
Finally, the evening’s keynote, Dara Cooper, was introduced by Kellie Terry, North Star Fund’s Philanthropy Programs Director.
Dara set the stage for her talk “Risk and Resilience” by uplifting those who laid the foundation for our collective work. She continued by framing where we are as a country and movement today. She outlined the myriad challenges faced by those on the front lines.
Dara pivoted to talk about philanthropy specifically, calling out our most extractive and damaging practices. She then called us in, to build in solidarity with the growing number of movement-led funds like LIFE. And, to live up to the potential of what organized philanthropy could look like.
The content of Dara’s keynote make up the first two posts of her recently launched Substack, Grits and Politics.
The evening concluded with Q&A and more unstructured networking. We filled to go boxes of uneaten food and sipped delicious cocktails.
You can view all photos in an online album, or check out a slideshow of selected pictures here.
Below is a video of the night’s speakers including all presentations. The following time markers can be used to find specific moments:
- Start – Opening Montage
- 0:55 – Welcome by Adam Liebowitz, CFF Director
- 2:30 – Introduction of CFF Champion Award recipient by Julia McCarthy, NY Health Foundation
- 5:55 – SOFSA presentation by Maura Ackerman, Executive Director
- 20:50 – Remarks on CFF’s work by Adam Liebowitz, CFF Director
- 25:30 – Honoring of Barbara Greenberg & Ruth Goldman
- 33:30 – Intro of Dara Cooper by Kellie Terry, North Star Fund
- 39:00 – Keynote Presentation by Dara Cooper
- 1:03:20 – Q&A