San Miguel Community Foundation announces the addition of Graciela Salazar, the newest member of their ever-growing Advocacy Board.

by Gregory Gunter

“We aim to be a dynamic group,” says President Donna Foudray of The San Miguel Community Foundation (SMCF), and expansion of their board is part of that dynamism.  And since the Foundation’s benefactors are the local community, they crave participation from locals who know the region’s needs best.

The Foundation-which provides grants to local non-profits and also serves as a contribution conduit for other A.C.’s needing 501(c)(3)-status donation deductibility–is thrilled to announce the addition of their newest Advocacy Board member, Graciela Salazar, a 23-year resident of San Miguel de Allende.

“Youth and education are my passions,” says Salazar, “and I hope to broaden our outreach with organizations sharing those goals.”  President Foudray notes that among their annual May grant recipients was Centro Infantil San Pablo, a preschool/kindergarten providing high quality education to underprivileged Mexican Children as a pilot program adapted from the U.S. Head Start model.

Salazar’s enthusiasm for education stems from her family background, where a university education was a given, encouraged and nurtured from a young age.  But she knows education is only a stepping stone to the ultimate goal: giving a student the business goals to maintain a self-sustaining career.

The Instituto San Miguelense, a private high school and university where 60 percent of the students are on scholarships, has benefited from her eight years experience teaching there, and she serves on the Board of the José Vasconselos Bilingual School.

Salazar enjoys helping place students in jobs, and as part of that goal, recently organized a local one-day conference as part of the mission of 10,000 Mujeres en México, a Goldman Sachs-sponsored global initiative fostering economic growth through a business training program for women.

“My husband and I moved here from Mexico City,” says Salazar, “partially with the goal of having more impact on our local community.”  And while she initially focused on raising her three children, Salazar quickly turned to the field of education here, adding, “It seems that living in San Miguel allows me to have a greater impact on my own community.”

Salazar joined the SMCF Advocacy Board at the invitation of fellow Board Member and independent business woman Guadalupe Alvarez, owner of Penzi, the highly successful wedding and event
planning company, but has also known Board Member Maritere Dobarganes for years.  The three create a powerhouse that compliments the existing board tremendously.

Learn more about the outreach of SMCF at their web site, SanMiguelCommunityFoundation.org, and spread the word: they are seeking more grant requests for their next grant funding program.
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San Miguel Community Foundation (SMCF) President Donna Foudray has a vision for the nonprofit organization she helps oversee: reach out to the Mexican National audience as potential supporters. And Foudray has just taken yet another step toward that goal with the addition of new Board Member Guadalupe Alvarez.

Alvarez has enjoyed a reputation as a strong, independent businesswoman since she began selling bracelets in San Miguel at the age of eight. She went on to own and operate housewares company El Milagro for 25 years, selling wholesale to clients like Neiman Marcus, Ballard Designs, and Harrods of London. Her other business ventures included oilcloth bag company Mary Jane, selling in Europe, Japan and New Zealand, and La Yunta, a textiles and décor store featuring finds from her international travels.

“Guadalupe is an ideal addition to our board,” says SMCF President Foudray. “As a 3rd-generation San Miguel native and well-recognized international businesswoman, she supports the vision we seek to pursue.”

“But what I really wanted was to be an installation artist,” said Alvarez, explaining the leap to her current eight-year career as owner of Penzi Bodas & Eventos, San Miguel’s most successful wedding planning firm. Her weekly wedding set-ups are much like stage design, as ephemeral as a Cristo installation, but equally as satisfying, she notes, adding, “I love the creative aspect of it!”

When Penzi coordinated the 2012 Chili Cook Off, she soon met SMCF President Foudray–whose organization received the 2012 fundraising proceeds–and who familiarized Alvarez with the foundation’s work. It was there she learned of the nonprofit Apoyo a Gente Emprendedora–they provide microloans to campo women seeking to start their own businesses–who invited Alvarez to speak to the campo women about what they could accomplish in life as a businesswoman.

Alvarez was enthralled by the experience.

“I was raised with the support I needed for success,” Alvarez said, “both physically and emotionally. Most women in the campo, because of circumstance, lack that inspiration. I was thrilled to help inspire them to reach for their dreams, and wanted to continue helping them financially through the SMCF.” It was then she agreed to join their Board.

Alvarez seeks to cast a wider net among the growing middle class in Mexico, drawing them into a giving structure more formalized than that to which most are accustomed. “We’ve always given to our family, or our neighbors,” Alvarez says, “but the SMCF allows a much broader outreach.” And while Alvarez is proud of her 20 years support of her sister’s nonprofit, Mano Rosa, she’s excited to leverage her experience to bigger audiences.

SMCF President Foudray shares that enthusiasm, adding, “We feel 2014 will be our best year yet!”

The San Miguel Community Foundation (SMCF)—founded in 1976—boasts a successful history of both distributing grants and attracting qualified volunteers for their nonpaid Board of Directors. And with the recent addition of SMCF Treasurer Fred York, they scored a coup.

“Fred’s career in the nonprofit sector proves a boon for us,” says Donna Foudray, President of SMCF. “We’re really blessed to have his decades of expertise on our board.”

As Treasurer, Fred’s role is invaluable for a nonprofit foundation that has distributed over $743,000 in the last six years alone, a monthly average of over $10,000. Given the modesty of SMCF grant requests—and yet the astounding outreach of each grant’s effect—the foundation’s outreach proves invaluable to the community.

Treasurer York spent the first half of his life in the nonprofit arena, primarily with the March of Dimes’ Birth Defects Foundation. He served in positions of Field Representative, Executive Director in Dallas and Houston, Texas and finally at the New York corporate office serving as Director of National Coalitions Development. In 1989, Fred moved to Dallas and founded his own nonprofit consultancy organization specializing in small and emerging community service charities, which he ran until 1998.

“Grant analysis review and the actual distribution of funds are what I always enjoyed most,” says SMCF’s new treasurer. “At March of Dimes I mostly focused on fundraising, but here at SMCF, I’ll be focusing on what I truly enjoy.”

Fred also finds time for a wide variety of other interests, especially since his move to San Miguel de Allende in 2006. Travel and tennis are two favorites, especially when he can combine the two as he did when he played in a tournament in Cologne, Germany while visiting several Central European countries.

Fred also helped found in 2008 the local Community Church where he served as Council Chaird in 2012. But he also really enjoys taking the pulpit—so to speak—when serving as a volunteer tour guide for Patronato Pro Niños’ historical walking tours. “I always wanted to teach history,” Fred adds. “Now I can share San Miguel de Allende’s rich and wonderful history while helping raise funds dedicated to improving the health of children in our community.”

While SMCF has distributed grants to well-known nonprofits—names like Hospice San Miguel, Jovenes Adelante, and Mujeres en Cambio—their outreach extends to many smaller organizations, from Apoyo a Gente Emprendedora, Cadena de Ayuda, and Centro Infantil San Pablo. All organizations seeking funds, however, must meet SMCF’s strict grant request guidelines.

While Treasurer York spent almost a decade out of the nonprofit sector in the home décor industry prior to his move to San Miguel, he’s now back in the industry that guided most of his life. “I started in the nonprofit arena straight out of the University of Texas,” he says. “And now with SMCF, I’m back in the role I love: helping others.”