Thank you for celebrating with us. 

On November 11, 2017 the African-American Community Fund (AACF) of The Dayton Foundation celebrated 25 years of philanthropic impact in the community at its Silver Anniversary Gala. With nearly 300 donors, community leaders and young professionals in attendance at The Dayton Art Institute, the Gala transpired into a night to remember with an atmosphere full of the spirit of community. 

The evening began with a powerful spoken word performance by Stivers School for the Arts students, Trinity Thomas and Shawn Gardner, who presented an original spoken word piece crafted around the evening’s theme – I Am AACF. One Community, Building Lives. The piece paid homage to the funds co-founders, donors and historic philanthropic impact.

Additional performances that evening included an impactful contemporary dance entitled “You and Me, Together,” performed by The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), 2016 African-American Community Fund grant recipients. 

Throughout the night, attendees were updated on the fund’s progress over the past 25 years from AACF President, Joshua Johnson, including the fund’s recent milestones and highlights of more than $5 million in assets and more than $4 million in grants awarded to non-profits since inception. Additionally attendees heard from fantastic guest speakers including Gladys Turner-Finney, an AACF donor, Kiana James, AACF scholarship recipient, and Crystal Michelle Perkins of DCDC, a 2016 AACF grant recipient, who shared how AACF has impacted their lives and the programs they serve.

Additionally, AACF’s vice president, Dr. Willie Houston Jr. announced the 2017 grant recipients, which includes: Agape for Youth, Inc., Dayton Right to Life, National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton (NCCJ), Project Cure, Inc., St. Joseph Orphanage, Shango, Inc., and Sinclair Community College.

Finally, Honorary Co-Chairs Jenell Ross from Bob Ross Auto Group and Al Wofford from CDO Technologies along with AACF’s Advisory Board honored its co-founders John Moore, Sr. and the late Lloyd Lewis, Jr. with a tribute and launch of a new fund called the John E. Moore, Sr. and Lloyd E. Lewis, Jr. Community Impact Fund. The AACF Advisory Board will use this fund to make unrestricted grants to non-profit causes the benefit Greater Dayton’s African-American citizens.

The evening concluded with music and celebration.  

The celebration of the AACF’s commitment to philanthropy for the past 25 years would not have been possible without all of our donors, supporters and of course the support of The Dayton Foundation. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this a tremendous evening!

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors:

Professor Aleksandar Svager

Dayton Chapter of the Links, Inc.
Special thanks to the Links for sponsoring ten young professionals to attend the Gala.

Bob Ross Auto Group, CDO Technologies, The Dayton Foundation

The University of Dayton

LifePlan Financial Group, Sinclair Community College, Shirley and Lawrence Porter, Rosalind and Charles Harper

Dr. Yolanda Garmon, O’Diam and Associates, Wright State University Foundation

Along with Willis “Bing” Davis and the Willis “Bing” Davis and EbonNia Gallery for providing the artistic portrayals of the AACF’s donors

And

Sierra Leone, Artistic Director of Signature Educational Solutions for assisting with the spoken word performance from Stivers School of the Arts

We'd also like to thank our vendors and live band for the evening:

Premium Blend

Dayton Wedding Photographers

DJ Real

For more information, or copies of this year's annual report contact aacf@daytonfoundation.org. 

Special thanks to our Silver Anniversary Gala Sponsors:

Prof. Aleksandar Svager