An Update on Our Evolution

by Christina P. Orsi, President

I’ve said before that leading the Oishei Foundation is both the privilege of my lifetime and the challenge, while acknowledging that growth and change do not come from comfort. We initiated transformative change at the Foundation when we developed our new strategic framework which focuses on identifying and removing the root causes of racial inequities to advance financial prosperity for all in our region, starting with the Black communities on Buffalo’s East Side.  

This new direction is a significant departure from the traditional grantmaking that has defined much of our past. As a continuation of the racial equity work we began years ago, it requires becoming a different kind of organization—one that is more aligned with our new mission and better equipped to serve our community. As we remain rooted in our values, we’re leaning into economic justice work and building on the strengths of our team and our community: curiosity, compassion, creativity, and relationships. 

Walking with the community means centering community voices. This requires deep listening—truly hearing from the hardworking, creative, and entrepreneurial voices in our community when they identify barriers and when they lift up solutions. It’s about ensuring that these voices guide all of our efforts. To be effective, we must also identify and work to disrupt the systems that have prevented financial prosperity for some. 

Understanding these necessary shifts pushed us as an organization to take a hard look at our processes, our systems, and how we structure our work. As a result, our team identified several new key functions, or areas of work, that the Foundation must have to create lasting change:

• People & Culture: At the heart of our work, this new functional area aims to build a more inclusive and supportive environment, starting internally. A key aspect of this work is embedding racial equity into every function, ensuring that our internal practices reflect the principles we’re promoting in the community.
• Community Impact: Centering the community, this work builds deep and trusting relationships to achieve lasting change, co-designing comprehensive initiatives and leading efforts to understand community perspectives, especially around systemic barriers and solutions to advance financial prosperity for all.The Community Impact function ensures that community perspectives are integrated into all aspects of Oishei’s work and processes.
• Policy and Advocacy: This function enables the Foundation to leverage its influence and resources to support economic justice, engage with policymakers on equitable policies, and help drive systemic change. Policy and advocacy work addresses root causes of inequity, amplifies marginalized voices in policy discussions, supports community-led advocacy efforts, and informs evidence-based policy solutions.
• Strategic Communications: Shifting perceptions and changing narratives through communication is vital to our mission, enabling a broader understanding of systemic challenges.This work must also give a platform to the voices and stories of the people and organizations in East Side communities, ensuring that messaging and imagery is authentic, representative, and inclusive. 

We will begin recruiting for the People & Culture and Community Impact roles in November, with the others to follow in the new year.  As we welcome new team members, the existing team at Oishei of talented, passionate changemakers, who have been forging a new way of work for the Foundation, will continue to play key roles in our exciting evolution. 

We believe the new functions will help elevate our ability to foster deeper, more authentic partnership and  collaboration around the specific challenges that our region faces. 

Embracing the Challenges and Opportunities

Reimagining ourselves as an organization is not easy. Every day brings new challenges, some harder to navigate than others. We understand that many of our partners and community members have questions about how we will do our work moving forward. We are committed to keeping you informed as our strategy, initiatives, and team evolves. As we redesign our structures and processes, it’s essential to remember that behind every strategy and system, there are people—people who are passionate about this work and who are living the complexity and nuance of our journey daily. While the work is often exhausting, it is also exhilarating, purposeful, and deeply rewarding.

We are excited about what lies ahead, even as we acknowledge the uncertainty that comes with new endeavors. This growth and change is not always comfortable, but we remain committed to learning, adapting, and, most importantly, listening to the community.

We could not have reached this point without the dedication of our team, our board, our community partners, and everyone who has joined us in this work so far. Your commitment has brought us to this new chapter, and for that, we are profoundly grateful.

As we look to the future, we are thankful for the grace we have been shown and hopeful you will continue to walk this path with us. We believe that by working together, we can build a more equitable, prosperous Buffalo Niagara for all.

Thank you for being part of this journey.