Community Needs in Response to Coronavirus

With the economy at a standstill, tens of thousands of Sonoma County residents suddenly find themselves in an incredibly vulnerable place. Nonprofits are seeing huge increases in demand for emergency food, financial assistance, and other safety net supports to make it through this crisis.

Elly Seelye Grogan, Senior Philanthropy Officer with Community Foundation Sonoma County, will share what the Foundation is learning about the most pressing community needs right now, what nonprofits are doing to help as well as how they are being impacted themselves, and the Foundation’s response.

Community Foundation Sonoma County is the local hub for philanthropy, connecting people, ideas, and resources to benefit all who live here. Since 1983 the Community Foundation has invested more than $225 million in Sonoma County through grants and scholarships. Today the Foundation has more than $175 million in assets and works with hundreds of donors to inspire greater philanthropy to benefit this community.

Elly serves as a philanthropic advisor to donors with the Community Foundation and previously oversaw grantmaking in the areas of health and human services and the environment.  Prior to joining the Foundation she worked for nonprofits both in Sonoma County (including Social Advocates for Youth) and in Oregon; her most recent role was with StoveTeam International, a nonprofit promoting clean cook stoves that started out of the Eugene Southtowne Rotary Club. Elly was a member of the Southtowne Rotary Club while working for StoveTeam, and served as the club’s International Services chair. She is better known to Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotarians as Randy Seelye’s daughter and joined club eyeglass trips to Nicaragua and Western Samoa. 

Elly was born and raised in Santa Rosa and is a graduate of Santa Rosa High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon with a dual major in International Studies and Spanish. She earned a master’s degree in Multicultural Education at University of San Francisco.

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