Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne

Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne

The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne was founded in 1922 to pool charitable gifts into permanent endowments serving Allen County, Indiana. Brad Little runs the foundation as President and CEO, with Heidi Ludwig as COO and Sherry Early chairing the board for the 2025–2026 term. Its capital reflects generations of local donor intent rather than a single wealth-origin event. The foundation deploys assets across a fund-of-funds structure with allocations to hedge funds, private credit, and special situations, complemented by direct real estate and place-based investments in Fort Wayne. Confirmed holdings include its headquarters at 555 E Wayne Street, the Electric Works mixed-use redevelopment at 1690 Broadway, The Landing Phase I on Columbia Street, and Promenade Park along the riverfront. Co-investors in these community-scale projects include the City of Fort Wayne, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Lilly Endowment through its GIFT (Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow) initiative. The foundation partners with the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance for statewide network benchmarking and participates in the Council on Foundations' CF Insights program. Adjacent grantmaking structures include the Donald F. Wood and Darlene M. Richardson Foundation, the Women's Fund of Greater Fort Wayne, and the Youth Empowered Philanthropy (YEP) program, each operating as a named endowment vehicle under the foundation's umbrella. Sherry Early assumed the board chair role in 2025, reflecting planned governance rotation. The foundation's balance sheet includes beneficial interests in trusts and cash-value life insurance policies alongside its real asset portfolio, a structure designed to smooth payout obligations across market cycles. This multi-asset, multi-generational liability framework separates it from foundations that rely on a single financial sponsor or shorter-duration grantmaking pools.