BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2025) — Two major names in South Florida philanthropy took the stage together this week at Florida Atlantic University.
Danita DeHaney, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, opened the 2025 Arreva Driven by Cause Philanthropic Summit with the first keynote address before hundreds gathered to talk about the state of modern giving. She was joined by Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Broward, for an open conversation about how community foundations operate and evolve.
“They are place-based institutions that are rooted in identifying and addressing the needs in their community through philanthropy,” DeHaney told the audience.
She broke down three common foundation models — donor-centric, community-centered, and leadership-based — explaining that her foundation began as donor-focused but is now moving toward a more active leadership model.
“We want to be the convener, the mobilizer of businesses, philanthropists, civic organizations, and families,” DeHaney said. “We want to be the ones to bring people together to drive collective philanthropy to address issues that no other entity is positioned to address.”
Anderson and DeHaney discussed the day-to-day work of community foundations: grantmaking, managing donor-advised funds, and helping families build lasting legacies. They also encouraged nonprofit leaders to forge closer ties with the foundations.
“We need to know you,” DeHaney said. “We need to know how you help the community, what your mission is and how you do it.”
That understanding, she explained, helps connect donors to organizations quickly when opportunities arise.
The two-day summit, held on FAU’s Boca Raton campus, was organized by Arreva, the Spirit of Giving, and FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters School of Public Administration. The event drew philanthropic leaders, funders, educators, and nonprofit professionals from across the region.
