At Central Florida Foundation, we believe philanthropy belongs to everyone and there's no one right way to do your charitable giving. So, in 2024, the Foundation began building a space for philanthropists centered on values-based giving and relationship-driven grantmaking. That work became the Thrive Venture Philanthropy Cohort, which brought together two small groups of fundholders, community members, and nonprofit leaders to learn about giving, pool their resources, and make a shared investment in Central Florida. The Cohort took its name from the Foundation's Thrive Framework, which guided each cohort's grantmaking.
How it Worked
The Cohort was designed to be an intimate experience with no more than ten participants. Each member contributed to a pooled grant fund, with additional co-investment by the Foundation, and together they explored how to give more intentionally, impactfully, and effectively.
Sessions were mostly divided into two kinds of learning: personal philanthropy and strategic grantmaking.
Personal philanthropy sessions included candid discussions about narratives and philosophies, values inquiries and exercises, and legacy building.
For strategic grantmaking, participants learned the Foundation's process, focusing on a problem statement, root-cause exercises, research process, and more. Participants experienced a strategic grantmaking process with the guidance of our professional Foundation team. The cohort used a venture philanthropy approach, which applies strategic, innovative, and capability-building investments to help nonprofits test ideas, scale impact, or fill critical gaps.
Together, each cohort wrote RFPs, scored applications, and reached consensus on their grantee selections.
The 2025 Cohort: Youth Civic Engagement
The first Cohort launched in February 2025, with generous support from Gilbert Miller.
This Cohort focused on one of the five Thrive focus areas: Community and Social Connection (CSC) and specifically selected youth civic engagement as its prime focus. Their RFP asked for "a creative, youth-centered nonprofit partner to design and pilot an engaging, replicable program or experience that empowers young people to understand government, participate in civic life, vote thoughtfully, and identify misleading news."
The cohort was looking for a nonprofit that could also communicate with youth, create a replicable model, and focus on the inclusion of historically underserved communities. From several strong proposals, the cohort chose Junior Achievement of Central Florida (JACF), and the Foundation's Board approved the grant in July 2025.
With the $75,000 grant, JACF built on two existing programs to incorporate voting and civic-engagement components: JA Inspire, a career-exploration program for middle schools and 3DE by Junior Achievement, a four-year curriculum that prepares high schoolers for post-secondary education, careers and economic success.
The program, called Connecting Gen-A With Tools to Change Their World leverages the reach, resources and other structures of these two existing programs to develop and implement a program that:
- allows students to experience a new Inspire civics encounter about voting, elections, civic engagement, and vote in a mock election.
- allows students to engage in new government and/or civic groups participating in 3DE's capstone project, called senior consultancy.
You can read the full 2025 Thrive Venture Philanthropy Cohort report here.
"This was my first exposure to philanthropic work. To be honest I thought philanthropy belonged solely to the very rich people...I was worried that I may not fit in with the group, but everybody was so supportive. They all have the spirit of inclusivity, community building, and sharing experiences."– Yue Kuang Ku, "Ku" | '25 Cohort
The 2026 Cohort: Philanthropy During Crisis
Building on lessons from 2025, the second cohort group focused on the Thrive area of Economic Stability. They met as many nonprofits faced sudden funding disruptions and particularly focused on philanthropy during crisis.
Their goal was to create a better prepared and more resilient community during times of crisis or disaster, with the guiding belief that resilient communities are built not only through response and recovery efforts, but through thoughtful preparation. By infusing philanthropy into the early stages of community resilience and preparedness, the 2026 cohort aimed to strengthen the systems and relationships that help our region withstand and adapt to challenges. Their time together involved discussion around defining crisis and identifying opportunities to address both immediate and long-term community needs.
Following an RFP process, the cohort prioritized supporting a mid-sized nonprofit that could significantly benefit from the available funding. IDEAS For Us was unanimously selected and the 2026 cohort recommended a $50,000 grant to the organization to support their Lightbulb software platform.
This platform connects nonprofits before, during, and after disasters to coordinate resources related to preparedness, food access, and recovery. Already built and established, the funding from the cohort will support expansion of nonprofit participation, data integration, and continued platform development.
"It was truly incredible to watch the participants step into the role of evaluators. They took the responsibility seriously, brought sharp insight to the table, and collaborated with real intention. It was inspiring to witness."– Sandi Vidal, Vice President of Community Strategies and Initiatives
Giving Together
The Thrive Venture Philanthropy Cohort was about more than grantmaking. It was about the growth of a community rooted in thoughtful giving, where philanthropists are better equipped to lead with purpose, invest strategically, and strengthen the culture of charitable giving across Central Florida.
In their own words, participants said the Cohort had them:
- "thinking about giving more collaboratively and ways to talk to my family about our goals."
- "[learning] more [about] why I give, and the importance of legacy."
- "I didn't know much about philanthropy at all... now I have some guidelines to go forward."
If you're interested in collaborative giving, you can explore our giving circle opportunities or contact our philanthropy team at 407-872-3050.
Contact Our Philanthropy Team
Ready to talk more, let’s get in touch! Call our Philanthropic Relationship Manager, Neil Rios Laverde, CAP® at 407-872-3050, or send an email.
