Build the Miami that belongs to everyone
This year and this month, as the country marks its own 250th anniversary, Miami has a chance to decide who belongs here.
Long before Miami’s incorporation as a city, this land held a thousand years of history of the Tequesta people who lived along this bay and adapted to it, calling it home. The version of Miami’s beginning that most of us know starts later, with a small group of residents, including the many Bahamian immigrants whose labor and craft built the city’s earliest days, who in July of 1896 decided this frontier outpost was worth making official.
That instinct to build remains as cranes still mark the skyline and neighborhoods constantly change. Right now, our leaders are constructing a county budget and a property tax referendum that will test what this community is willing to invest in, together, and whom it’s really building for. At The Miami Foundation, we’re planning and building for all parts of our community. celebrated and honored the journalists telling Miami’s most critical stories and Press Forward South Florida is investing in the journalism that keeps residents informed enough to weigh in. Vote Miami is preparing people to show up when those decisions are made. And Give Miami Day is gearing up to help the nonprofits that serve every corner of this community strengthen the infrastructure behind their work.
A city that belongs to everyone is never finished. It’s built in referendums and newsrooms, in warehouses full of donated supplies, and at nonprofits adapting to do more with fewer resources. Our Miami is an accumulation of the decisions we each make, every day, to keep building something worth belonging to.
At The Foundation
Investing in Disaster Resilience Across Miami-Dade
This year, the Miami Disaster Resilience Fund is investing $135,000 in a network of resilience hubs and community-based organizations strengthening preparedness across Miami-Dade County. From The Smile Trust in Central Dade to Sant La in North Dade to Centro Campesino in South Dade, these neighborhood anchors help connect residents to preparedness education, emergency support, and recovery assistance, before and after disaster strikes. A wider network of preparedness partners, including organizations serving disability, housing, and food security needs across the county, rounds out this year’s cohort. Learn more about the full 2026 cohort.
Watch: Vote Miami Candidate Forums Now Available Online
This week, Vote Miami hosted three virtual candidate forums for Miami-Dade County Commission races in Districts 2, 5, and 8. Moderated by local journalists, the Q&A format gave residents a chance to hear directly from candidates ahead of the August 18 nonpartisan primary. Candidates addressed topics including transportation and accessibility, housing affordability, public safety, climate and resilience, and more.
To win outright in the primary, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does so, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff in the November 3 General Election.
Didn’t get a chance to join the 200+ community members who tuned in? Full recordings of all three forums are now available on the Vote Miami website and YouTube.
Even if you don’t live in these districts, these races matter: County Commissioners vote on the countywide budget and shape legislation that affects all 2.8 million Miami-Dade residents. Find out which district you’re in, and check out more resources on our 2026 local elections here.
Community Foundations and the Future of Giving at Giving USA 2026
American giving just crossed a historic threshold: U.S. charitable giving grew 5.7% in 2025 to $617.2 billion, the first time that total giving has topped $600 billion. Our President and CEO Rebecca Fishman Lipsey joined nearly 2,000 attendees for the CCS Fundraising and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Perspective on Philanthropy: Giving USA 2026 panel to unpack what that milestone means for the sector. Rebecca spoke to the vital role community foundations play in connecting donors to the broader nonprofit ecosystem, noting that in Miami, more than half of the nonprofits that participate in Give Miami Day are small organizations doing essential, everyday work.
She also spoke to the moment nonprofit leaders are facing in a year of tightening public-sector resources when the strength of a community’s leaders matters more than ever. “If I were to focus on one thing right now, it is people first,” Rebecca said. “We need the leaders in our communities who step forward bravely for all the issues we care about to be strong on the other side of this … I would lean in hard right now and take a look and diagnose, not just who’s going to meet (those needs), but actually, how are your people doing?”
Welcoming Natalia Zea, Our Newest Executive Team Member
Please join us in welcoming Natalia Zea as Chief Community Investment Officer at The Miami Foundation!
Natalia brings more than two decades of leadership across public affairs and community engagement, most recently as Chief Public Policy, Community Engagement and Communications Officer at The Children’s Trust of Miami-Dade, along with a career that began in investigative journalism. Her experience and vision will be tremendous assets as we work to connect nonprofits, civic leaders, and community resources to build a stronger Miami.
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