Robert Gioia and the Oishei Foundation:
Catalysts for change in WNY
By Lisa Kane
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James Wadsworth and Robert Gioia.
Photo by Jim Bush |
Do you expect, under Mr. Gioia’s leadership, that the Oishei Foundation will move in any new directions?
Wadsworth: The foundation has had two stages to date. Initially it was more passive. In 1998, coinciding with the hiring of Tom Baker as our executive director, the foundation became more proactive, more of a “catalyst for change,” which is our watchword now.
Gioia: The change from when Tom took over until now—the drive to become a catalyst for change—was very significant. The change from Tom to me will be more about fine-tuning. We’re going to continue to grow, but no meteoric change is needed. That already happened, to Tom’s credit. Our strategic planning process will determine any changes in direction. We’re three quarters of the way through a year-long planning process, which Jim is heading up.
Wadsworth: ... We’re asking, how can we play even more of a leadership role? We haven’t been and we don’t want to be simply reactive.
Gioia: We’re known as being a great convener. We have the neutrality to do that. Our only goal is to better life in the community. We’ve been able to bring people to the table who wouldn’t otherwise have been there.
Wadsworth: Even more collaboration among organizations is sorely needed, and achieving that is one of our goals.
Gioia: The Oishei Foundation has broken down parochial barriers that stymied change. We are going to leverage this to have even greater impact.
How?
Wadsworth: We can’t be all things to all people. There are lots of needy organizations. Our role is to identify those who can provide the highest quality and the best services, then support them.
Gioia: We need to make sure the money is well spent. We look at best practices and peer analysis. We strive to help organizations improve their delivery of services. There are limited funds and lots of need, so we need to line up supply with demand.
Wadsworth: Sometimes the best use of funds is in capacity building—helping organizations in governance, technology, staffing.
Gioia: A hallmark of this is our work with BISSNET [Buffalo Independent Secondary School Network, a consortium of seventeen independent high schools in Erie and Niagara counties].
Wadsworth: We told the schools that we wouldn’t fund their individual requests, but we would if they worked together, and they did. A collaborative technology project was among the first to receive funding from us, then an art festival, then other joint initiatives. Now their librarians meet, their technology staffs and other peer groups meet, to exchange best practices and help each other.
Gioia: What a novel idea, talking to your peers.
Wadsworth: And competitors.
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Mr. Wadsworth, as the head of the search committee that selected Mr. Gioia, can you tell us about that process, and why you chose someone local?
Wadsworth: We hired a professional search firm, but decided early on that we would hire someone local, or someone who moved out of the area but had a solid connection here. We felt the knowledge of the community was essential ... With Robert, we have a superb combination of passion, knowledge, and administrative skills and abilities that make him uniquely well qualified for the position.
What responsibility does the Oishei Foundation have to the Western New York community?
Gioia: One of the things we help with is working with organizations that duplicate services in the community. Looking at these services with other funders, we can help them find ways to provide services more effectively, with less duplication. We often say, let’s get all of these service providers together and see how we can help them to deliver their services better.
Mr. Gioia, does your role as Oishei president provide a way for you to continue the work you did heading up the Erie County Stabilization Project?
Gioia: In my role with the county, a priority was to convene parties to initiate meaningful change, so in that way, and that way only, yes, there will be a continuation. ... My role will be to bring other parties together. We can also help local government look for needs that aren’t being met and help meet them.
Does the foundation have a role in helping Erie County achieve fiscal stability?
Gioia: We stay out of the political debate; governance and governing is not our role. Absolute neutrality is our role.
Wadsworth: That’s right. We can’t be a substitute for government, although we can use funds to provide services that government can’t.
But would the Oishei Foundation support a political cause, similar to the way the Wendt Foundation is supporting casino opponents in their lawsuit, if you believed it was for the good of the community?
Gioia: Since enhancing the economic vitality and quality of life in Western New York is our mission, anything supporting that would be something we would consider.
Wadsworth: Of course, as with any private foundation, we need to be careful to limit our political activities to those allowed by law.
Lisa Kane is a freelance writer living in Buffalo.
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