The CEO and President of the Oak Park and River Forest Community Foundation, Tony Martinez Jr., will be departing from the community-support organization after an impactful tenure to begin a new leadership role at Dominican University.
For the past six years, Martinez has led the foundation, which mobilizes financial resources to equitably advance local communities. It provides philanthropic advice, manages donor’s assets and supports local nonprofits to receive grants in areas from youth development to housing stability.
At Dominican University, he will lead fundraising strategies as vice president of university advancement.
Martinez said he was proud to lead the foundation to expand its reach, strategy and vision in what it can accomplish in local communities.
“The accomplishments are really team-based in terms of staff, board and community members,” he said. “I would say the first one is really grounding ourselves in the values and principles of racial justice, equity and inclusivity.”
“The other part I’m really proud of, is establishing more of a purpose – a vision of what we can do with these values,” he added.
Carrie Summy, the current director of external affairs at the foundation, who has worked directly with Martinez, will be serving as the interim CEO and president starting April 1.
Summy said the work that Martinez led in his tenure has transformed the foundation. She said his charisma and sense of genuine compassion enabled him to tackle the racial equity issues in the Cook County region the foundation began to focus on in 2019.
“We’ve gone through a lot of change. I honestly don’t know if we would have been able to do it with another kind of leader. I think what he excelled at and what I admire in him was this building of trusting relationships,” Summy said.
Under Martinez, the foundation launched its first robust community needs assessment in 20 years. The foundation collaborated with community stakeholders to hear directly from the west Cook County region to find out where the foundation can provide impactful support to all community members.
Martinez grew the total assets the foundation managed from $37.7 million in 2018, to more than $55.4 million the foundation currently manages, according to a press release from the foundation. He also pushed to incorporate the greater west Cook County region in the foundation’s scope.
In addition, he enhanced the foundation’s core values to include racial justice and equity and led their team to respond proactively and equitably in supporting vulnerable residents during the COVID pandemic through the Rapid Response and Recovery Fund in 2020, Martinez said.
Martinez said he’s excited to bring his 17 years of expertise in the community-foundation field to Dominican University, an institution he sees holding the same core values he worked to create at the Oak Park and River Forest Community Foundation.
“It’s just a natural fit and the next phase of my career,” Martinez said. “It is to bring the resources needed and awareness of the amazing programs, working with donors, inspiring them to give and helping in any way I can to shape and lead the fundraising efforts.”
Summy plans to continue the strategies Martinez implemented and drive their work forward under the current threats to federal and state funding from the Trump administration, she said.
“Without a doubt, I feel like we are going to have tough times again at our door, and our nonprofit sector is alarmed, and they may be harmed,” Summy said. “In my opinion, philanthropy has an absolute duty. We have an opportunity, and we have the duty now to fill the gaps that the government is not going to fill or does not want to fill.”
Right now, she said the foundation is determining the funding gaps that might come from cuts under the Department of Governmental Efficiency, as reported by NPR Illinois, which was established by the Trump administration to slash federal spending.
“One of our values is courage, and that’s what I’m going to use to weather whatever comes our way. I’m not going to back down,” she said.
Glena Temple, the president of Dominican University, said Martinez will lead the institutional fundraising efforts, and support the growth of the new Chicago campus that opened in Pilsen last year. After three years of record enrollment, she said his experience will make a quick impact on their goals of continued growth.
“Tony’s extensive experience and passion for our mission will be critical in stewarding new and continuing community relationships in the years ahead,” Temple said in an email to the Wednesday Journal.
Before the Oak Park and River Forest Community Foundation, Martinez worked as the director of development for the Chicago Community Trust for nearly 10 years. He currently serves on boards for advocacy organizations including the Edgar Fellows, the Resurrection Project, Forefront, Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, the National Rosacea Society and the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations.
Martinez said his experiences growing up in Elgin inform his instincts and motivation to work in the community-foundation field.
During preschool and first grade, he was placed in a bilingual school instead of an English-speaking school. The school falsely assumed he could not speak English because he and his family are Mexican American. Martinez could speak English, and said he was set back by being placed in the bilingual school that also required an hour-long commute by bus. His father then demanded a change, which came after joining with other parents experiencing the same issues.
“It was my dad’s advocacy to really fight for what was right, and as a young seven-year-old, going into second grade at the time, which left such an impression on me,” Martinez said.
Now, he is looking forward to making an impact on the students that he sees a lot of himself in at Dominican University.
“At the end of the day, it’s about helping the little ‘Tonys’ out there. There’s a lot of promise and it’s my commitment to my values,” Martinez said.