Our Blog

Meet Amaryllis Owens, our President and a former voice actress who’s favorite Philly cheesesteak spot is outside of Philly.

Meet Cara Hackett, Chair of our Communications Committee, a Broadway regular, and a Questlove fan—she’s been involved with Spruce for almost four years, from the grantmaking to showing up to uplift our grantees onsite whenever there’s the chance.

Monique Phillips, Director of Community Engagement at Women of Color in Pharma, shares why young professionals should count their volunteer skills amongst just their job skills when it comes to professional achievements.

Get to know Tiffany Marini, Vice President of the Spruce Foundation, collector of vinyl, and advocate for giving back to Philly’s communities.

Get to know Maggie Mandich, our very own Secretary, a Grace Kelly fan, and five-year supporter of the Spruce Foundation, from starting out as a grant reviewer to now being on the Executive Committee.

Bill Leffler, Treasurer of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund, talks to us about the the impact of legacy funds, the importance of advocacy and funding for Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ community, opportunities for you to support DVLF and its mission, and more.

Originally posted on the Young Professionals Council’s website. Millennials have been unsurprisingly a demographic hit hard by the past year’s pandemic and economic slowdown. While budgets tightened, the act of giving did not disappear as a line item. In 2020, over 75% of individuals aged 25 to 34 (“millennials”) donated to friends, family, or nonprofits….

During our Q1 Spruce Council meeting we learned how Teach For America is “Catalyzing Leadership to make Educational Equity and Excellence a Reality” from our guest speaker Caitlin Wood Sklar, Managing Director – Corporate, Foundation and Public Partnerships at Teach for America – Philadelphia. She began by noting “America is not yet preparing all children…

Naima Murphy has always supported causes that are close to her. Growing up, she had two active role models in her parents, both of whom worked in spaces championing collective equality for Black people. Her dad was a civil rights lawyer while her mom was a social worker, and they demonstrated that everyone has a…

The Spruce Foundation is committed to incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into every aspect of our organization. Over the summer, we shared our commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization and compiled a list of resources to learn more about anti-racism and a few local organizations who are doing incredible work in advancing equity.   We…