We Are Excited to Announce the First CEO and President of the Lodi Community Foundation
The Lodi Community Foundation (LCF) Board of Directors announced that Louis Ponick will be its first president and CEO. Mr. Ponick currently serves as Interim CEO of the San Joaquin Community Foundation and will assume his new role with LCF on May 27, 2025. This will mark a pivotal milestone for the organization as it prepares to deepen its impact across the Lodi region.
“We are thrilled to have Louis as our new CEO,” said John Ledbetter, Chair of the Lodi Community Foundation Board. “He brings decades of experience working with community foundations and other nonprofits. He has served on the LCF board these past three years and played a critical role in our organization’s growth. His leadership will help guide us and our community into a new era of growth and service.”
“I have spent my professional career in the nonprofit sector, ” said Louis Ponick, incoming CEO of LCF. “Nothing has been more rewarding than my time working with community foundations and serving on the LCF board. I’m honored to lead the Lodi Community Foundation as we strengthen partnerships with local donors and work to support nonprofits, invest in innovative programs and projects, and help shape a more vibrant future for our city and its surrounding areas.”
Learn more by reading the full press release available here.
Photo is from the 2025 Community Philanthropy Summit. From Left to Right: Louis Ponick, Georgette Hunefeld, Colleen Stewart, Diane Vigil, John Ledbetter
Opportunities
209Gives – Tuesday, April 29, 2025
A Resource for Lodi Nonprofits
Mark Your Calendars for the 209Gives 24hour day of giving – a day where nonprofits can raise money and tell their story to further advance their cause!
Date: Tuesday April 29, 2025
Time: 12am – 12am – ALL DAY – ALL NIGHT
Where: Online at www.209Gives.org
209Gives is a free platform for local nonprofits to utilize for fundraising. Use the site to to share your story, accelerate fundraising, and gain followers passionate about your cause! Plus – a collaborative effort to promote a 24 hour day of giving that has raised a quarter million dollars for San Joaquin area nonprofits in 2024!
This year the Lodi Community Foundation will be supporting the following nonprofits, each with a $1,000 matching gift!
🧡 Changing Faces Theater Company
🧡 GOT Kids – Giving Opportunities to Kids
🧡 Lodi Boys and Girls Club
🧡 Lodi Public Library Foundation
🧡 LOEL Senior Center
🧡 San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum
🧡 The Salvation Army – Lodi
🧡 Valley Community Orchestra
🧡 World of Wonders Science Museum
🧡 Hospice of San Joaquin
🧡 PREVAIL
🧡 A New Lodi
🧡 Breakthrough Project for Social Justice – Lodi
Success
2025 Community Philanthropy Summit
Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s Community Philanthropy Summit! Your presence, energy, and commitment to strengthening our nonprofit and philanthropic community made the day truly inspiring. We are grateful for your participation and support, and we already look forward to welcoming you back for next year’s event!
To help us continue improving, we encourage you to complete a short survey about your experience. Your feedback is incredibly valuable and will help shape the topics, speakers, and overall design of next year’s Summit. Thank you again for being a part of this important gathering — we can’t wait to build an even greater event with your input!
Fund Highlight
Hutchins Street Square Foundation Endowment Fund
Hutchins Street Square is a vibrant community hub that hosts a wide variety of musical groups, theater events, and more. It serves as a versatile venue for professional development days and events such as the Community Philanthropy Summit, and wedding receptions, offering an elegant setting for couples to celebrate their special day.
Hutchins Street Square Foundation fosters partnerships to fund, cultivate and enhance the Square as the vital center of community life. The vision is to perpetuate Hutchins Street Square as the social and cultural core of our community.
In 2012, the Hutchins Street Square Foundation began an endowment with the Lodi Community Foundation. The endowment was not designed to assist with day-to-day operations, but was created for the long-term sustainability of Hutchins Street Square as a facility.
The Foundation generates earnings from the endowment that enable us to maintain and make future improvements to the facility. Donations can be made online or mailed to the Lodi Community Foundation – Hutchins Street Square Foundation Endowment, P.O. Box 2278, Lodi, CA 95241-2278.
Learn more about the Hutchins Street Square Foundation by visiting the website here.
Several nonprofits and public agencies choose Lodi Community Foundation as a partner to house their charitable funds. LCF offers a variety of funds for individuals, families, businesses, community organizations and public agencies. We can help you choose the fund that best accomplishes your goals for giving. You can set up your fund with cash, appreciated property, real estate or other assets.
If you know someone interested in learning more about Agency Funds or other fund options, reach out to LCF at (209) 910-3523 or visit our website.
