'Rochester's best days are ahead.' Q&A with Community Foundation's first Black leader

As the Rochester Area Community Foundation celebrates 50 years of serving the Rochester community through advocacy and philanthropy, it also celebrates the organization’s first Black president and CEO, Simeon Banister. He stepped into the role Oct. 1, following the retirement of past president and CEO Jennifer Leonard.

Banister was born and raised in Rochester and is an active member of the community. He first joined the Community Foundation in 2017 as a program officer for equity. Later, he oversaw grant-making and community leadership as vice president of the community programs department.

When the foundation and United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes launched the Community Crisis Fund in March 2020, Banister co-led the committee that met every day for several months to review and approve grant requests. Nearly $7 million was distributed by that committee during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Banister also serves as president of the Greater Rochester Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, and he is a board member of the University of Rochester Medical Center, of The Children’s Agenda, of the Genesee Land Trust, and of the Congressional Award Foundation’s Advisory Board.

The following is an interview with Banister, who shares his thoughts for the future of the community and the Community Foundation. His answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

What is the Community Foundation's role in Rochester, as you see it?

So, the Community Foundation is kind of known for being a grant-making organization. And we do that. But we do more than that. And that includes our work and community leadership.

We're a vehicle that helps to strengthen our region through the power of philanthropy. And we do that by connecting potential donors and folks that have a vested interest in the future of our community. With folks that are doing the work on the ground in the community, we represent important linkage between the two. That's critical. We believe in mobilizing the private assets of our community to strengthen the public good for our community. And in so doing, we end up with a region that's stronger for the future.

How do you think your experience as a Black Rochesterian informs your new role?

Well, I was born and raised here in Rochester. And I think one of the things that we know about Rochester, that's really just a wonderful attribute, is its interconnectedness. And so, but we also know that historically, we've really wrestled with kind of segregation in this community. And what that means is that voices of folks that have been on the margins are often not included and haven't been fully represented. And so, I see part of the responsibility is showing up and representing those voices. And I think it certainly informs the way that we think about where the needs of the community are and where we will distribute resources to strengthen the community.

I think it's fair to say that when we look back at the history of Rochester, a key challenge — and this is a key challenge, interestingly, for everybody in Rochester, it's most pronounced in certain segments in a community, certain geographies in the community, certain demographics, but it's a challenge for all the community —is that there is an economic headwind that we have faced because of inequity. And we have to solve for that. Because if we don't, there's no reason to expect that we will thrive and grow and be a vibrant community again. But if we can ensure that not only do we include, but then we take the next steps that we really talk about equity, and equity in the fullest sense of the word, that really is the basis for this kind of need to grow.

What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure?

Well, we have a couple of things that are, you know, really critical. The first is that the Community Foundation again, is a great organization, and so this is really an opportunity to continue to evolve the foundation to meet the community's changing needs. And RACF (Rochester Area Community Foundation) has wonderful people that work here that we're really grateful for, and a wonderful community of folks that we engage with.

The first is that we really want to mobilize around the community's intellectual resources. What we mean by that is, there are a lot of smart folks in this town that are in higher education, that are retirees that have really great experience that they can lend to solving our community's most intractable challenges, other folks that are doing smart work around Rochester. But right now, there's so much information that is overwhelming. We want to curate that information and make sure that our communities, decision-makers, have access to actionable insights so that we can make the best possible choices to situate ourselves for the future.

So, that's a big part of what we want to do here. We want to connect that information with the strategic grant-making that we're doing so that the grants that we're making are as impactful as possible. And so that we can communicate that impact effectively to the broader community, which we think helps us to then mobilize more resources. And if we mobilize more resources, then we have the opportunity to create more impact.

How will some of your past and current leadership roles aid you?

Well, the main thing I think, is really having a deep knowledge of Rochester, a deep knowledge of this community. I benefit from the fact that I have a kind of a generational sensibility about the work in this community.

My parents were very active here in Rochester. My grandparents were active here in Rochester. And so, I really am blessed to kind of carry the insights and the orientation towards making this community stronger. And so, that really informs my day-to-day work.

I would also say that everything from working in education, working in the private sector, obviously, working in the nonprofit sector, those are all key insights about different kind of facets of Rochester, and deep knowledge of those facets helps to inform how we approach the work.

But I think, more than anything, it really is the relationships, right, talking to lots of people engage with lots of folks getting those insights, and then helping to figure out how we organize those insights into something that allows us to take action.

What kinds of support do you think the community needs?

Well, I think, number one, we have been a community that sometimes hasn't been as attentive to our history as we need to be. And I think that lack of attentiveness to our history has caused us to make some mistakes and do some things over and over and over again that we could have otherwise avoid. So, that's number one.

Number two, I think we're in a really innovative opportunity right now — the moment for innovation — when we see new industries that are coming online, new businesses, particularly for example, in clean energy, and clean technology, is a really exciting moment. But if we do this in a way that is racially exclusive in the way that we have in the past, there's no reason to think that those industries are going to grow and thrive.

So, we've got to figure out how we leverage this innovative moment with equity. In fact, we've been saying to folks, that equity truly is the innovation for Rochester. That's the thing that we can do different, that's going to position us for growth.

And we're doing everything that we can to understand with real acuity, what the opportunity is, how we can mobilize? And then what we can actually do that's going to create impact.

To build off of that question, how can the news, media or community organizations help you in your efforts?

So, there's a tendency at times to think about data as just quantitative, right? So, ACT Rochester, for example, is a data initiative that we've had here, at the Community Foundation. And one of the things that we're realizing is that data, quantitative data is just part of this the story. But it really is about narrative. And so, data that's decontextualized, that doesn't have narrative, is data that can be really harmful.

What we want to do is figure out how we have stories and narrative that are emblematic of the data. Right? And we know that that abounds around us, there are good things that are happening in Rochester.

I actually think one of the biggest challenges that we have is a very deep level of cynicism about the community. And I want to be clear that that is justifiable cynicism, right, there are a lot of people that have been failed by the systems in this community. And so, our opportunity, then, is to figure out how we make those systems perform in ways that actually do show up, that make good on the promises that have been made.

If we're able to do that effectively. That's where we start to build trust. And if we can build trust and build that kind of engagement and involvement, again, that really is the foundation for growth.

What Community Foundation initiative do you hold close to your heart? And why?

Yeah, you know, I'm not in the business of kind of picking which ones are the best and not, but we do think that ACT Rochester is a key place for a lot of activity for us because it informs a lot of other work, which is really important.

Other things that we're working on, that’re really exciting is we are mobilizing around climate change and environment, and in particular environmental justice and sustainability. And so, we're super excited about RENEW (Rochester ENergy Efficiency and Weatherization), which is an initiative that focuses on weatherization and environment for homes of low-income Rochesterians. Because we know that if you can't breathe the air comfortably in your own home, it certainly is difficult to then do all the other things that we know, lead to life success. So, (we’re) excited about that.

We're excited about the idea of collective impact. And that has been kind of done in a number of different venues in Rochester. We've seen it in education with ROC the Future. We were grateful to be there at the outset. We've seen it in working on issues related to poverty. And so, we've been a part of the table and RMAPI (Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative). And climate now with the (Genesee-Finger Lakes Climate Collective), which I'm gratified to co-chair and in a myriad of other areas, collective impact, we believe works. But it requires all of us to get off the sidelines on a spectrum, just where we've all got to be in the game. And so, we're really excited about what collective impact looks, we continue to learn more about how to implement it effectively.

Fun fact, question 1: What is something you wish people knew about you?

Something that was new about me? Well, I mean, I really, really, really love my kids. And that's not a unique fact, I think most people do. But I'm really grateful to have two wonderful children that I expect are going to be in this community and a part of this community — ideally, stay in this community when they get older — and so I'm very motivated by what it means to create a community that's going to be the kind of place that they want to be.

Fun fact, question 2: What is your favorite place to get lunch in Rochester?

Okay, so my favorite place to get lunch in Rochester? I don't really eat a lot of lunch, to be honest with you. I have a lot of coffee though. And I love watching these new coffee shops spring up. I remember when Fuego Coffee first opened. And when they moved to their new location, and I was there for both. I'm super excited about places like Ugly Duck and Melo. And so, I got a lot of coffee around town and love those good coffee shops.

I'd love to see some more of those start to spring up in places that they haven't done traditionally. And we'll see what happens when the Inner Loop gets filled and what goes there on the north side of the city. But those are usually harbingers of change.

Our reporting mission:How do we measure the success of the Inner Loop reclamation?

At the same time, when I mentioned change, which is important, it's also important that folks that have been in communities get the chance to benefit from the economic growth and vitality of the community. That's something we need to be super, super thoughtful about. As we start to see new venues pop up for all of us.

Fun fact, question 3: What is your favorite thing about Rochester?

Its people. ... I'm a boomeranger, and I was away from our community for about 15 years or so. And we came back for my younger brother's wedding ... as soon as we fly to the airport here in Rochester, I ran into my seventh-grade English teacher, Ms. Walker. And then, as we're walking out of the airport, I see a friend of my father's who was working in the baggage claim, then we take a little bit of a farther ride. And over those next few days, it was just reconnecting with folks.

I love that about this town. And I think that it's really our strength. Funny enough, actually a lot of the site selectors and folks, they say that about Rochester too ... people are its biggest asset.

We got to make sure we invest in all of its people, right, and not just some of its people — that all of its people have opportunity. All of its people are vibrant and thriving and in the position to grow.

And if we do that, then truly the future is ours to claim.

Is there anything that we didn't ask that you feel is important to share?

I do think it's important for people to know that Rochester's best days are ahead of it. And there's a lot of pressure right now in Rochester. This is a key inflection point. And, make no mistake, that the decisions that we reach over these next five or 10 years are going to have long-lasting ramifications for what Rochester is going to be.

We know that there are massive challenges on the horizon. Even today, we're dealing with, obviously, community violence. We're dealing with issues that are percolating around environment, but there are also huge opportunities and in some ways these symptoms can be remedied through these cures.

And I think what we want to figure out is what are those careers? What are the opportunities to create meaningful economic opportunity for everybody?

And the Community Foundation is a real partner in doing that.

Revisiting the Rochester Narrative fellowship program

Interviewers Genae Shields and Justice Marbury are Revisiting the Rochester Narrative fellows and graduates of the Rochester Institute of Technology's photojournalism program. Now in its second year, the fellowship is devoted to uplifting underserved BIPOC communities and training the region's next generation of local journalists.

Helping support Revisiting the Rochester Narrative is the Rochester Area Community Foundation. Its generous grant this year bolstered the Democrat and Chronicle's efforts to connect with and more effectively serve diverse segments of Greater Rochester. The grant helps fund three fellowships (the third fellow is Madeline Lathrop), outreach efforts and use of texting services to deliver information in neighborhoods.

Genae Shields is a Revisiting the Rochester Narrative fellow and a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology's photojournalism program. Follow her on Instagram @genaebriphoto and on Twitter @genaebri. Her website is genaeshields.com.

Justice Marbury is a Revisiting the Rochester Narrative fellow and a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology's photojournalism program. Follow her on Instagram @justice_marbury. Her website is justicemarbury.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Simeon Banister, Rochester Area Community Foundation, on our future