The Stewardship Committee met on June 7, 2021.

We welcomed guests Linda Sunde and Anita Montgomery to our meeting. Our meetings are open to CDS members and you are welcome to join us! The "Aligning CDS Investing With CDS Values" webinar was held on June 2. The webinar was very well received. Members mentioned their appreciation for the contributions Deb Markely and Yuylia Tarasava made to the webinar. Given the positive reactions from CDS members who attended the webinar, the Stewardship Committee decided to propose moving the entire Linda Sunde Endowment Fund from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's (GMF) Investment Pool to GMF's Socially Responsible Pool and withdrawing up to 20% of the Strategic Initiatives Fund (based on balance as of Jan. 1, 2021) to invest in impact investing.

The CDS Board of Directors recently approved the Stewardship Committee's proposal to conduct an independent audit of CDS finances and operations. The proposal included a provision for creating a Board committee to oversee the audit. That committee will include the CDS Treasurer, at least one other director, and at least one CDS member not currently serving on the Board. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please contact Bob Bertsch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Finally, the committee briefly discussed a special fundrasing event for 2021. We will be working with the Local Host Team for the 2021 CDS Virtual Conference to plan a fun-filled trivia event as part of the conference. This event will set the stage for a CDS Team Trivia Contest which will be planned for Fall 2021. Be sure to register for the 2021 CDS Virtual Conference to join our first trivia event and to learn more about forming a team for the big event in the fall.

We have scheduled all of our meetings for the remainder of 2021, and we would love to have members join us to share their ideas and learn more about the work we are doing.

Next Stewardship Committee Meeting
Monday, August 2, 2021 at 17:00 (5 p.m.) EDT U.S./22:00 (10 p.m.) BST
Join the Meeting

Please join us if you are interested in helping with this work. Stewardship Committee members spend 2-3 hours each month on committee business, including our monthly meeting. If you are interested in joining, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Bob Bertsch, CDS Treasurer

The 2021 annual international conference is just one month away! In many ways, the conference marks a time of transition, including endings and beginnings. With the conference comes new board members and officers, an exchange of emerging scholarship and promising practices, and inspiration from various keynote speakers who will address the conference theme "Global Challenges, Local Resilience."

As my board service comes to an end, I also reflect on my involvement and experience with CDS. I first attended and presented at CDS 2013 (Charleston, SC, USA) and have had many opportunities to learn about community development scholarship, meet mentors, develop friendships, and take on various roles from committee involvement to serving in the CDS leadership track. All along the way, it has been evident that unless volunteers, members, directors, and officers alike are willing to work collaboratively, the Society would fail to live up to its Principles of Good Practice or accomplish its strategic goals.

With this in mind, I would like to acknowledge the unquestionably dedicated group of individuals who have worked for two years (and a longer period for some) to make the 2021 conference a success, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic. It has been my absolute pleasure to work with this group as Vice Chair of Programs and Chair of the Board. Please join me in recognizing their hard work when you see them during the virtual conference. They have much to celebrate in what will most certainly be a superb conference experience. I am fortunate to have witnessed their commitment and collegiality during the past two years.

THANK YOU to the 2020/2021 Local Host Team: Jamie Behymer, Tia Braseth, Alison Brennan, Bob Bertsch, Jeff Bumgarner, Mitch Calkins, Justin Dollard, Janice Edwards, Mary Emery, Brian Fier, Huston Gibson, Gary Goreham, Noelle Harden, Shonna Hemmis, Jane Leonard, Daniela Mattos, Kim Morris, Luke Preussler, Taylor Syvertson.

Are you looking to be more involved with CDS as we reimagine our roles and community development efforts in 2021 and beyond? Now is your opportunity to be part of leading CDS forward! You can soon look forward to correspondence from the CDS Secretary for information regarding the call for nominations and annual election for CDS officers and directors.

Regrettably, there have been some resignations from the board and executive committee in recent months. Per the bylaws approved in 2019, the board has discretion and power to fill vacancies. However, in the interest of transparency and the timing of these vacancies, the annual election will include special elections for the unexpired terms and the regular recruitment of two directors and Vice Chair of Operations. If you want to learn more about board service, please do not hesitate to contact any directors or officers.

updated June 9, 2021

The CDS Stewardship Committee has been discussing how to better align CDS investments with CDS values. Currently the Linda Sunde Endowment Fund (LSEF) and the CDS Strategic Initiative Fund (SIF) are invested in investment pools that may include stocks of companies in the following industries: adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, fossil fuels, gambling, and nuclear power. Investing in these industries does not reflect CDS members’ commitment to supporting activities that encourage broad participation and promote health, justice, and sustainability in the communities with which they work. 

On June 2, 2021, the Stewardship Committee hosted the "Aligning CDS Investments with CDS Values" webinar to provide an opportunity for CDS members to learn more about impact and socially responsible investing, ask questions, and provide feedback. Deb Markley from Locus Impact Investing and Yuylia Tarasava from CNote joined the webinar to talk about how nonprofits are adjusting their investment strategy to align with their mission and values, and how impact investing can help create change in communities.

Watch the recording of the"Aligning CDS Investments with CDS Values" webinar.

 After considering the feedback shared in the webinar, the Stewardship Committee is proposing the following:

• Moving the entire Linda Sunde Endowment Fund from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's (GMF) Investment Pool to GMF's Socially Responsible Pool.

• Withdrawing up to 20% of the Strategic Initiatives Fund (based on balance as of Jan. 1, 2021) to invest in impact investing.

We'd like to hear from you about this proposal. Please go to https://padlet.com/rjbertsch/lyvtuxbbbi6unk3b to post your questions or comments about the proposal. To add a question or comment, just click the "+" sign at the bottom of the column you want to add to. Give wour post a title and type your question or comment where you see "Write something". You can also up/down vote and reply to the questions and comments posted by others on the site.

If you have questions on how to use the website or you'd like to share your comments or questions directly. please email Bob Bertsch, CDS Treasurer, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The Stewardship Committee met on May 3, 2021.

We continued to discuss our efforts to align CDS investments with CDS values. We will be hosting a webinar to share more information about socially responsible and impact investing on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 10:00 (10 a.m.) CDT/ 16:00 (4 p.m.) BST. Deb Markley from Locus Impact Investing and Patric Glassell from CNote will join the webinar to talk about how nonprofits are adjusting their investment strategy to align with their mission and values, and how impact investing can help create change in communities. 

Register now for the Aligning CDS Investments with CDS Values webinar!

We also reviewed CDS finances for the first quarter of 2021. CDS showed net income of $26,641 in the first quarter of 2021. Income for the quarter included two large sources of annual revenue, conference sponsorships ($16,500) and publications income ($28,043). Membership dues continued a strong showing with $2,630 in March and $7,410 year to date, which is $3,534 over budget for the quarter. The Linda Sunde Endowment Fund and the Strategic Initiatives Fund investments generated total unrealized earnings of $11,543 in the first quarter.

We have scheduled all of our meetings for the remainder of 2021, and we would love to have members join us to share their ideas and learn more about the work we are doing.

Next Stewardship Committee Meeting
Monday, June 7, 2021 at 17:00 (5 p.m.) EDT U.S./22:00 (10 p.m.) BST
Join the Meeting

Please join us if you are interested in helping with this work. Stewardship Committee members spend 2-3 hours each month on committee business, including our monthly meeting. If you are interested in joining, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Bob Bertsch, CDS Treasurer