Betsy Constantine

Betsy Constantine is President/Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. For more than 100 years, the Community Foundation has worked with individuals, families, foundations and organizations to steward their charitable assets. Over the past 15 years, the Foundation has led long-term focused, systems change efforts to close racial equity gaps through coalition building and creating public-private partnerships. The Community Foundation has expanded its community change role from solely serving as a grantmaker to playing an active role in convening coalitions, leading community capacity building and advocating for public policy changes. As a result, the Foundation is now viewed as a trusted partner to business and government leaders, grassroots organizations and community partners alike. The Foundation’s assets have grown from $135 million to over $800 million since 2005. Additional community change assets have allowed the Foundation to create new community capacity through over 800 partnerships, resulting in higher graduation rates in the Buffalo Public Schools, more coordinated access to career pathways that provide family sustaining wages, reduced recidivism rates, policy changes to address lead poisoning, and this long-term work has just begun.