Message From the Chair

A Legacy of Passionate Participation

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By James K. Cummings
Chair, Nathan Cummings Foundation

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The trustees, associates, and staff of the Nathan Cummings Foundation spent the past year rethinking and refining our objectives and strategies in our program areas-the arts, environment, health, Jewish life, and Interprogram. The new program guidelines are the end result of our work. The Interprogram's special initiatives on contemplative practice and democratic values are particularly relevant during the excitement (and stress) of an election year. I have a strong personal interest in promoting the democratic values of fairness, diversity, and community throughout American society. As the prophet Micah, 6:8, teaches: "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God." My own contemplative practice helps guide me toward those goals.

Perhaps most importantly, I feel a deep commitment to supporting the talents and leadership of younger generations. The Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Cummings family believe in encouraging, listening to, and championing each new generation. We must all learn to open doors for the young, responding to their passions, wishes, and ideas with support and encouragement. If we demonstrate values worth living by, they will preserve these values as their own and use them as a guide in building a more humane, contemplative, and sustainable society.

I became chair of the Foundation in 1995 at about the same time as a number of new senior staff were also joining the Foundation. Under Charlie Halpern's able leadership and with the help of our more veteran staff, we all eased into our new jobs with a minimum of the typical adjustment problems. The transition was not only seamless but enriching. The considerable skills and fresh perspectives of Claudine Brown, Dick Mark, and Henry Ng have already contributed greatly to the Foundation's programs and overall mission.

I am pleased that, during my first year as chair, more members of the family have increased their involvement in the Foundation's activities as trustees or associates. During this past year, Steve Durchslag, Ruth Cummings Sorensen, and Sheila Zuieback have joined the board; Adam Cummings, Deborah Cummings, and Rick Cummings have increased their commitment by becoming associates. I also want to recognize all other family members who continue to recommend extraordinary community grants that add to the rich mosaic of NCF grantees. Additionally, I want to thank Ken Brecher, another new board member, for his contributions.

It saddens me to report the death of my former sister-in-law, Sue Aldwell, on April 15, 1996. In the early days of the Foundation, including the time when our professional staff was coming on board, Sue always stimulated discussion with her provocative ideas. She was one of the most persuasive advocates for the importance of the environment in the shaping of our program areas. Her passion for all living things was felt by everyone who knew her. She is greatly missed.

What makes the Nathan Cummings Foundation special is that it is a living family foundation. My late grandfather Nathan established the Foundation with his fortune, yet he did not restrict the programs of the Foundation to the issues he personally thought were most important. He left it to each generation to help shape the program and direction of the Foundation. My late father and uncle, Herb and Alan, and my aunt, Buddy, our only lifetime trustee, have sustained this tradition. Part of their legacy was to entrust those of us who followed with the responsibility of renewing the Foundation's vitality and commitment and keeping its mission relevant to the times. Without each generation's passionate participation, there is no Nathan Cummings family foundation. s activities as trustees or associates. During this past year, Steve Durchslag, Ruth Cummings Sorensen, and Sheila Zuieback have joined the board; Adam Cummings, Deborah Cummings, and Rick Cummings have increased their commitment by becoming associates. I also want to recognize all other family members who continue to recommend extraordinary community grants that add to the rich mosaic of NCF grantees. Additionally, I want to thank Ken Brecher, another new board member, for his contributions.