Collaborative Initiatives

As a community leader, it is our privilege and our responsibility to promote opportunities for collaborations, partnerships, alignments, and (when appropriate) mergers. We also see value in collaborating with our peers in philanthropy to strengthen the nonprofit sector overall.

Facilitated initiatives

The Oishei Foundation has helped bring together like-minded organizations to work toward a shared mission. The resulting collaborations include:

• Arts collaborative —Facilitating a partnership between CEPA, Big Orbit Gallery, and Just Buffalo Literary Center to share administrative functions and resources
  
  
• Arts Services Initiative — Providing a coordinated, regional approach to promoting professional development for artists, teachers, and organizations in the arts
  
  
• Better By Degrees — Assessing the role of higher education in advancing the region’s knowledge economy
  
  
• Community Conversations for Leaders of Color—Bringing together people of color to address barriers to becoming leaders. 
• Population Health Collaborative — Aligning resources and expertise to improve population health in Western New York
  
  
• Read to Succeed — Improving student achievement by creating a community-wide priority on literacy for children from birth to age eight
  
  
• The HEART Coalition — Providing mental health education, prevention, and awareness for Western New York high school students

Participating collaborations

We often collaborate with our peers in philanthropy for greater impact including:

• CharitySTRONG — Strengthening nonprofit boards through recruitment and training programs
  
  
• East Side Corridor Economic Development Fund — Partnering with private sector and philanthropic organizations to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations working on Buffalo’s East Side
  
  
• Liftoff — Ensuring that, by the time children reach kindergarten, they are prepared to reach their fullest potential
  
  
• WNY Nonprofit Support Group — Assessing and strengthening the capacity of the area’s nonprofit community.