By Ruth Cummings Sorensen
Chair, Nathan Cummings Foundation

We at the Foundation find ourselves in a period of consolidation and evolution. I have been recently elected Chair, and as a third generation family member involved with the Foundation, I am grateful to our seniors, Beatrice Cummings Mayer, the founding Chair, and to Herbert K. Cummings, founding President. Since the organization was created, my aunt and uncle included my generation in shaping our mission and program and have afforded opportunities to us to join as peers in the governance of the Foundation. Their encouragement as I assume the role of Chair gives me confidence to look ahead as we guide the Foundation into the future. This transition, this passing of the torch, is a tribute to our ideal of a foundation which engages all family members.

In the past year the Trustees felt ready to involve different perspectives in Board discussions, and to include new talent to help us govern the organization more effectively. We are privileged to have Reynold Levy and Bevis Longstreth join us. They bring insights based on their philanthropic and professional activities; they have already shared their inquisitive spirits and impressed us with their abilities to meld with family and staff.

At the same time we celebrate our new members, we mourn the loss of Herbert Cummings, who died of cancer in April, 1992. Among the many memorials to Herb's leadership is the new cancer initiative within our Health program. In the months before he died, Herb helped shape this program, working with staff, his wife, Diane and son,James. His spirit and good work live on and continue to guide us.

In its brief appearance on the scene, the Foundation has become a part of the philanthropic community through the efforts of our President and staff to work constructively with their colleagues. With limited resources, we have leveraged our time and dollars by collaborating with other foundations. Joining like-minded foundations, individuals and experts in the field around the table for informal brainstorming about an issue has resulted in major new initiatives. Cummings has partnered with the MacArthur Foundation, for instance, to create the Center for the Advancement of Health whose mission is to bring mind/body approaches to healing into the mainstream of medical practice.

Other program areas have launched major initiatives as well. For instance, we prepared a study about Jews who are remaining in the former Soviet Union and provided our report to interested foundations and individuals. This provided information for the Foundation's first grants to serve and support Jews of Russia and the surrounding states. It became the springboard for the study tour Cummings organized for Jewish funders in May 1992.

During a year in which Congress is considering whether to de-fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the NEA, foundations can play a role in giving voice to those who are expressing the need for change and creative solutions to immense societal ills. If foundations were to collaborate and put resources into "social marketing," promoting good ideas, it would be a welcome counterpoint to the negativity that obfuscates bottom line issues such as clean air, freedom of expression, and AIDS.

It is our continued good fortune to have the hearts and minds of the President and staff engaged with the Board, making dreams and ideas come alive. The Board recognizes the importance of continuing this close working relationship, encouraging meaningful participation of family members, so that now and in the future, the way is paved for the next generations to carry on the legacy of our founder, Nathan Cummings. Cummings has partnered with the MacArthur Foundation, for instance, to create the Center for the Advancement of Health whose mission is to bring mind/body approaches to healing into the mainstream of medical practice.