MyCom Monday: Mrs. Dale Anglin

“I’m grateful to be listed with such a distinguished group of servant leaders.  I have consistently worked to help children and families in my various endeavors and being on this list makes me feel that others understand and appreciate my efforts.”

Ms. Anglin is Vice President for Grantmaking and Community Impact at The Cleveland Foundation, the country’s first community foundation.

The Cleveland Foundation was founded in 1914 with a vision to provide a charitable outlet for people of all economic capacities. Just as captains of industry had created private foundations funded by their vast personal wealth, the Cleveland Foundation enabled anybody to leave some kind of charitable legacy. Today, The Cleveland Foundation funds over 5,000 grants annually, distributing almost $140 million in Greater Cleveland.

Anglin came to The Cleveland Foundation in 2017 as Program Director for Youth, Health, and Human Services. In that role, she worked on out-of-school time programming, Say Yes to Education, youth violence prevention, faith-based initiatives, special needs and general health care, and social services. In early 2020, Anglin added the challenge of leading the Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, supporting pandemic relief and recovery with a wide range of funders. She was promoted to her current position in April 2021, in which she works to align the foundation’s grantmaking initiatives to the ongoing needs of diverse communities in Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga counties.

“I’m working with many nonprofit and government partners to find sustainable funding for out-of-school time programs and working with the city of Cleveland to address neighborhood safety,” Anglin said. “I’m also working with others to support a new nonprofit news source called Signal, whose mission is to ensure all residents of Greater Cleveland have the local news they need and want. It fuses community building with local news reporting. It also incorporates Cleveland Documenters, a group of over 600 residents who are trained and paid to cover public meetings. It’s all online and free. This is important because we have found that for people to feel involved in their community, which is foundational for active civic participation, they need news they can use daily. Signal CLE provides that news.”

As a young person born and raised in Chicago, Anglin did not have to look far to find examples of the leadership she would model herself upon.

“Growing up I watched my community consistently work to help one another and make our community better,” she said. “This included my mother, Lena, who was the mom who helped supervise the playground after school for other families, my church mothers who helped us gain public speaking skills and exposed us to outside opportunities, and teachers who went above and beyond to help me grow, and then my children. The leaders of the many nonprofits we support also inspire me as they work to help the community overcome many obstacles and find joy. I stand on the shoulders of these quiet role models and those more famous who have worked tirelessly to help our community grow, fight injustice, and move forward.”

In addition to her work at The Cleveland Foundation, Anglin serves as a board member for The Charlotte Newcombe Foundation, which provides scholarship funding for mature students, students with disabilities, and special endowments. She is an active alumna of Smith College, serving on multiple boards and committees, and a Board Officer for AdoptAClassroom.org, which has grown to support classroom supply expenses for over 22,000 teachers each year.

“Being named to the Who’s Who in Black Cleveland list inspires me to keep going,” said Anglin, “We all know we may have made some progress, but there is still much to do to ensure that all are supported, healthy and happy and able to reach their highest potential.”