“If you’ve been a partner of CFT’s during the past fifteen years, it’s likely that you’ve connected with Monica. It’s also likely that you’ve been positively impacted by her warmth, grace, commitment to community, and passion for the role community foundations play in building a thriving region. Monica truly believes that one of the secrets to happiness is giving, and we couldn’t agree with her more,” said Wayne White, President and CEO at Communities Foundation of Texas.
Celebrating Monica’s CFT Career
Monica has been an integral and inspirational leader at CFT since she joined the organization in 2008. Monica has served on the executive leadership team since 2016 and has helped grow and strengthen CFT’s brand, impact, influence, size, and community leadership during her time with the organization.
Monica began her career at CFT as part of the grantmaking team and early in her tenure began supporting the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund at CFT, following careers with The Dallas Morning News and WFAA.
From fall 2014 to spring 2017, she led CFT’s grantmaking from the W.W. Caruth Jr. Fund, which makes transformational investments in the areas of education, public safety, and medical research. Under her leadership, the Caruth Fund made impactful grants to bring nationally recognized programs like Urban Teachers, Year Up, and City Year to Dallas; grants to establish centers of research excellence in the Center for Depression and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern and the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation; and grants to improve public safety including investments in the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute and in the replication of the SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) model across our region. Monica also served as a trusted advisor to CFT donors and fund holders on a variety of community needs and interest areas.
In 2017, she was promoted to Chief Relationship Officer and took the helm of the Relationships Department, leading the team that cultivates and stewards CFT’s donors and fund holders. Monica also led the cross functional team that created CFT’s popular Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy program, which has now graduated 400 North Texas next generation leaders under the age of 40.
In 2021, Monica was promoted to Senior Vice President, Chief Giving and Community Impact Officer, overseeing the teams responsible for grantmaking, donor relationships, and North Texas Giving Day. Through this role she has focused on aligning people and processes in collaboration towards growing giving and generating greater community impact across North Texas.
Monica has long been a “go-to” both internally and in the community for understanding and responding to donor and community needs. From March 2020 – March 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped oversee CFT’s mobilization of more than $375 million for nonprofits in collaboration and leadership with donors and partner funding organizations. She led the team to a record-breaking year in both gifts and grants in FY22, with $208 million in gifts received and $166 million distributed to nonprofits, far exceeding prior results in CFT’s 70-year history. Most recently, she led the North Texas Giving Day team to another incredible community fundraising campaign, with gifts totaling $63.9 million from 97,000 donors on September 21 – the third consecutive year that North Texas Giving Day gifts have topped $60 million.
“It’s difficult to express in words Monica’s impact or distinguish it from what CFT has accomplished as an organization in the past 15 years, because it has been very interconnected. Her forward-mindedness and standard of excellence toward our gifts, grants, and growth has positioned us for continued impact, and her legacy of leadership will truly be felt across the organization and community for decades to come,” said Richie Butler, Chair of Communities Foundation of Texas’ Board of Trustees.
Tributes to a Legacy of Leadership that Lives On
While Monica might be known as an executive leader to external partners, she’s also served as a key mentor and collaborator to many CFT staff during her 15-year tenure. She has built and grown a team of capable leaders across the Relationships, Philanthropy, and North Texas Giving Day departments, working tirelessly to ensure the success of those around her.
“I am so grateful to all who I’ve had the opportunity to partner with throughout these past fifteen years at CFT, and I hope to continue to collaborate with as many of you as possible throughout the next chapters of my career. It’s been a true joy and honor to support both the generous givers of our community and the nonprofits who work to meet needs across North Texas. CFT will always have my support and I’m excited to see how the Foundation will continue to make a positive impact in the years ahead. I truly believe in my CFT colleagues and the important role and impact of community foundations across our nation,” said Monica Christopher.
“We extend our deepest appreciation to Monica Christopher for all that she has done for CFT, our colleagues, our community, and our fund holders and partners. Monica will always be a hero of our CFT history, especially when reflecting on CFT’s expansive community leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and since the inception of North Texas Giving Day fifteen years ago. We are grateful that Monica will stay connected to CFT beyond her time as a colleague, both as a fund holder and advocate of North Texas Giving Day,” said Wayne White.
More about Monica Christopher:
Monica is a past Dallas Business Journal‘s 30 Women in Business Awards honoree. She is passionate about community philanthropy and serves the community in a variety of ways: on the executive committee of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, as president of the Junior League of Dallas Sustainers, and as a board member of Wingstop Charities. She is also a past president of the Women’s Auxiliary at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and the Leadership Dallas Alumni Association.
Prior to joining CFT in 2008, Monica was senior director of community services for the Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV, overseeing more than 150 Dallas-based community sponsorships and programs. She also managed the annual Dallas Morning News Charities campaign, raising money to support direct services for the hungry and homeless.
