Bridge Builders Community Foundations (BBCF) is proud to announce that we have been selected as one of the 23 community foundations across Appalachia to receive a 2025 READY Appalachia capacity-building award from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). This opportunity comes after our team completed ARC’s six-week READY Community Foundations training program—an initiative designed to strengthen community foundations’ operational capacity, fundraising strategy, and long-term sustainability across the region.
This funding is part of ARC’s December 2025 announcement of over $12.6 million in support for 80 projects aimed at strengthening local economies across 12 Appalachian states. These awards are specifically designed to help organizations like BBCF build the internal tools, knowledge, and infrastructure needed to better serve their communities today and prepare for the opportunities—and challenges—of tomorrow.
A Transformational Opportunity for Northwestern Pennsylvania
BBCF serves Crawford, Venango, Forest, and Warren Counties—four distinct communities with unique histories, needs, and opportunities. As a community foundation, our role is to connect people who care with causes that matter, foster strategic philanthropy, and support local nonprofits and leaders working to strengthen our region.
This READY Appalachia award directly supports that mission by providing resources to:
- Strengthen internal systems such as operations, financial processes, and fund management
- Enhance long-term sustainability, enabling us to grow our ability to fund scholarships, grants, and regional initiatives
- Improve fundraising and donor engagement, helping us better support local nonprofits and community partners
- Expand our capacity to serve communities, especially those in rural and economically distressed areas
As ARC states, these READY awards are designed to help organizations “obtain the skills, knowledge and resources necessary to strengthen their local economies—now and into the future.” That mission aligns directly with the work we strive to do every day.
About the READY Appalachia Initiative
READY Appalachia is not a typical grant program—it’s a comprehensive investment in the infrastructure behind community impact.
Through free training, technical assistance, and capacity-building funding, READY Appalachia supports:
- Nonprofits
- Local governments
- Community foundations
- Community development organizations
- Workforce and economic development partners
In ARC’s December 2025 funding announcement:
- Over $11.6 million supported READY Grants to Grow projects
- 23 community foundations received awards
- 10 local governments received grants after completing the READY Local Governments course
- Projects covered 12 states across the Appalachian region
This broad regional effort reflects ARC’s commitment to building strong local ecosystems capable of creating sustainable, long-term economic growth. As ARC’s Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin noted, many Appalachian communities face significant barriers—but capacity-building programs like READY provide “crucial assistance to help communities maximize their ability to build financial stability.”
How BBCF Plans to Use This Support
While the specifics of our implementation plan will unfold in the months ahead, this award will support essential infrastructure improvements that strengthen our ability to serve the region.
As part of our ARC Ready grant award, Bridge Builders Community Foundation (BBCF) launched the Grantmaking Reimagined Project, a comprehensive effort to strengthen and modernize how we deploy philanthropic resources across our region.
To lead this work, BBCF engaged Jordan Pallitto, Chief Operating Officer and Consultant at The Hill Group. Jordan brings deep expertise in strategy development, organizational assessment, and nonprofit capacity building, and is a licensed Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) Standards for Excellence Consultant. His background includes extensive work with community foundations and service in multiple philanthropic leadership roles throughout the region. Through this engagement, Jordan is guiding BBCF through a full review and redesign of our grantmaking model—facilitating visioning sessions, evaluating current practices, gathering stakeholder input, and developing the strategic tools and recommendations needed to create a more aligned, effective, and scalable grantmaking process.
Importantly, this work is intentionally grounded in real-time experience. BBCF’s annual grant application cycle ran from September 30 through October 31, with application reviews and selection meetings held throughout November and early December. We scheduled the project’s official kick-off meeting for December 5, just days after the final selection meeting, to ensure that reviewers’ insights, challenges, and observations were still fresh. This timing allows the consultant to begin the assessment with a clear and current understanding of how our grantmaking system functions in practice, ensuring that future improvements are informed directly by lived experience rather than theory alone.
Through the ARC Ready grant, BBCF is investing in the systems and strategies that will enable us to better serve our nonprofit partners, steward resources responsibly, and maximize community impact for years to come.
What This Means for Our Communities
Northwestern Pennsylvania is full of people who care deeply about their communities—neighbors who step up, give back, volunteer, create, and work every day to improve the places we call home. Strengthening BBCF’s internal capacity means strengthening the entire ecosystem that supports this region.
This award allows BBCF to:
- Better support students through scholarships
- Enhance grantmaking processes and community programs
- Foster local partnerships and collaborative initiatives
- Strengthen rural and distressed communities
- Invest in long-term community wealth building
As Maryland Governor Wes Moore, ARC’s 2025 States’ Co-Chair, shared, “true measures of growth can only be sustained when you uplift our local communities.” Through this READY award, BBCF is better positioned to uplift the people and places at the heart of our mission.
A Moment of Momentum for BBCF
This READY Appalachia award comes at an exciting moment in BBCF’s growth. With our continued expansion of regional scholarship programs, donor-advised funds, nonprofit partnerships, and community initiatives, strengthening our internal infrastructure allows us to grow sustainably and responsibly—without losing the hyper-local, relationship-driven approach that defines our foundation.
We are deeply grateful for ARC’s investment and recognition. Their support affirms the importance of the work happening in our region and the potential for even greater impact ahead.
Looking Ahead
This award is a powerful step forward for BBCF—and for our entire region. We look forward to sharing updates as the work progresses and to continuing our commitment to fostering a stronger, more vibrant, and more connected Northwestern Pennsylvania.
To learn more about READY Appalachia and ARC’s capacity-building programs, visit:
https://www.arc.gov/ready/foundations/