The Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) is pleased to welcome Bill Wells to the Community Foundation Board of Directors. Bill serves as a Vice President for Regional Commercial Banking at TD Bank.

Bill’s work includes providing real estate investors and businesses with financing as well as acting as a touchpoint for the full business banking relationship. Bill has skills in credit analysis, underwriting, account management, financial risk analysis, and managing portfolios for commercial banking clients including financing opportunities and wealth management. Bill serves on the finance committee of the Cherry Hill Free Clinic, and the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber. He is a graduate of The College of New Jersey.

“I am grateful to Bill for sharing his skills and leadership gifts with the Community Foundation,” said Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “His experience and relationships in the finance industry help CFSJ develop insights to support professional advisors in the South Jersey region.”

The Community Foundation creates philanthropy vehicles—advised funds, issue funds, designated agency funds, scholarship and other fund types to make grants for charitable impact. CFSJ provides charitable gift planning vehicles and assistance to support professional advisors such as attorneys, accountants, brokers, bankers, trust officers, life insurance agents, financial planners, and more. CFSJ works with generous families and businesses including nonprofit organizations to build endowments that grow and benefit the region forever.

Lois Greco, CFSJ Board Chair said, “Bill brings valuable knowledge, a fresh perspective, and a commitment to grow regional philanthropy. His ideas and insights will open relationships and help build connections and programs for the Community Foundation as a philanthropy partner for regional impact.”

“I am excited to use the knowledge I have gathered to assist in pursuing the vision of CFSJ,” Bill shared. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with fellow board members and to enhance the Foundation’s efforts to build informed philanthropic efforts in the area.”

Other members of the Board of Directors include:

Chairperson Lois Greco (Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities)
Vice Chair Lori Pepenella (Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce)
Secretary Valeria Galarza (ALTA Impact Partners)
Treasurer Justin Van Fleet (Marcum LLP)
Joseph C. Atkinson (PwC LLP)
H. Qawi Austin (Q&A Thought Partners, LLC)
Alisa Cooper (New Jersey Casino Control Commission)
Wanda Hardy (Financial Wellness Institute)
Teresa Giménez (University of Pennsylvania)
Jeremy Grunin (Grunin Foundation)
Evan Linhardt (Alliance Bernstein)

Camden residents who own small food-based businesses have a new source of loans to maintain or grow their businesses: the Camden Food Fund. The Fund will provide capital to small new and existing food-based business owners who live in Camden, face obstacles to accessing capital to maintain or grow their businesses, and participate in or help to advance a healthy, equitable local food economy. 

In an initial pilot phase, loans will range from $500 to $15,000, depending on the business’s use of the loan funds. The Fund prefers to support for-profit entities initially, but will consider non-profit investments with strong impact alignment. Learnings from the pilot phase will inform future decisions and financing tools from the Fund.

The Camden Food Fund is housed with the Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ). The Fund’s launch is made possible by a multi-year grant to the Community Foundation from The Campbell’s Foundation. Campbell’s will also provide the first round of capital for lending.

Using a resident-centered approach to leadership, the Fund was designed in partnership with a Community Advisory Board (CAB) which set strategy and guided the design of the Fund to meet the needs of food entrepreneurs. The CAB will direct resources to support the Fund’s mission and will be supported by a volunteer Impact Investment Committee with the expertise to assess the financial viability and social impact of potential investments.

The Fund’s initial investments are character-based loans. The pilot structure challenges the ways in which credit and financial information is too often the sole basis for loan underwriting.
The Camden Food Fund envisions that historically excluded food entrepreneurs will have improved access to funding and opportunities that contribute to the success and growth of their business and the Camden community. “I have heard about organizations and programs doing similar work, but it is a completely different endeavor to be able to actively participate in creating a new way of doing business. Most importantly to be able to do it in a community so close to my heart.” said Patricia Pena, the President of the Community Advisory Board.

Andy Fraizer, CFSJ Executive Director said, “This Fund work began with trust-building with neighbors, evolved to learning together, and is moving now to provide capital consistent with resident-centered strategy. The CFSJ team are grateful to be in relationship with CAB members and the support of The Campbell’s Foundation to work at the speed of community.”

The Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) announces its 2024 officers and trustees. The members of the board leadership are as follows: Chairperson Lois W. Greco (Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities), Vice-Chair Lori Pepenella (Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce), Secretary Valeria Galarza (ALTA Impact Partners), Treasurer Justin VanFleet (Marcum LLP). H. Qawi Austin (Q&A Thought Partners, LLC) joins the board as a new member. Other returning board members are Teresa Giménez (University of Pennsylvania), Jeremy Grunin (Grunin Holdings, Grunin Foundation), Evan Linhardt (Alliance Bernstein), Wanda P. Hardy (WP Hardy Consulting LLC), Joseph C. Atkinson (PwC LLP), and Alisa Cooper (New Jersey Casino Control Commission).

As a new member, H. Qawi Austin brings fifteen years of consulting experience across private, state, and community organizations, plus civic leadership and teaching youth empowerment.

As chairperson this year, Lois Greco is excited to lead through organizational change, including the addition of new staff and board members over the last two years. “I am proud to be from South Jersey and serving CFSJ’s mission in 2024. We will strive to grow our reach and continue making a difference for South Jersey together.” Greco continued, “Having Qawi on the Board will provide fresh eyes and new insight that will only make us stronger as a team. His deep desire to serve as a bridge between individuals and enterprises will be a great asset to the board. We are excited to work toward our goals together in the coming months.”

The Board also recognizes and thanks John Connell and Joe Tredinnick, both past chairpersons who completed the maximum nine years of service. “Their efforts have been invaluable and deeply appreciated in building the board of directors, connecting with new fundholders (donors), and supporting strategies that meet the Community Foundation’s mission,” noted Greco.

Interested in volunteering with the Community Foundation or exploring board membership, complete this questionnaire.