When Nina Waters was first offered the executive vice presidency of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, the position that would make her heir apparent to the top job, she turned it down.
She had been president of Pace Center for Girls and earlier worked at other nonprofits, mostly helping at-risk youth. But she worried that leading a major philanthropy was beyond her capabilities.
“It was so different,” she said. “I’ve never been much of a risk taker.”
But much of her career to that point had required her to take risks, investing her time in youth to help them turn their lives around. Leading Pace, she said, was the “most gratifying and rewarding job I’ve ever had.”
Still, Waters only accepted the job after encouragement from foundation board member J.F. Bryan IV, a friend and local insurance executive.
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It was August 2001. She was about to have her mettle tested.
Twenty-two years later, Waters, who turns 65 in August, is about to retire after 40 years in the nonprofit and philanthropy worlds, with 22 years at the foundation, 18 as president.
“I never looked at them as jobs, but a part of my life,” she said. “I found a lot of joy in it.”
‘Right person at right time’
Waters’ last duty will be easing the transition of her successor, Isaiah Oliver, 42, who has been president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for nine years in Michigan. He takes the local reins July 31 and will work with Waters for about a month.
“Nina was the right person at the right time to help The Community Foundation grow both in grant-making power and in community-minded leadership,” said Rena Coughlin, president of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, one of many organizations the foundation created during Waters’ tenure. “Philanthropy has been forever changed by technological and social evolution; Nina was a brilliant intermediary between the traditional and nontraditional. She values both without prejudice.”
At a retirement luncheon for Waters, a message from prominent philanthropist Delores Barr Weaver was read. The former Jacksonville Jaguars co-owner has made about $100 million in charitable gifts to the foundation over the years, including a $20 million permanently endowed fund created in 2016.
“I could not do my work without your guidance and that of the team you have built,” Weaver wrote in the message. “In my 12 years working with you, I have enjoyed our hard work together and sometimes it was really hard. But you persevered and looked at the results of action/inaction and then suggested outcomes. You were and are my counsel and my confidant when I need it most.”
As Waters ran the foundation, longtime friend and colleague Sherry Magill ran the duPont Fund, another Jacksonville-based philanthropy.
“She committed herself to doing the work and she stayed true to that commitment despite the grueling sacrifices, long days, endless events, financial challenges and community demands to solve all problems,” Magill said. “It’s daunting to lead a community foundation. Everyone — rich and poor alike, city and civic leaders, donors and those in need of donations — wants you to understand and address their problems.”
Waters is a “seasoned administrator” who listens, understands tough issues and the power of partnership and sees the “big picture and the tiniest detail,” she said.
The Community Foundation serves Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Baker, Clay and Putnam counties through a range of charitable and civic activities, while helping individual donors achieve their philanthropic goals, according to its website.
During Waters’ tenure, the foundation’s assets have increased from $67 million to a peak of $630 million and annual grants have grown from $7 million to almost $60 million. It’s the oldest and, in assets, the largest community foundation in Florida.
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Also, Waters’ led the foundation to create other philanthropic initiatives, including the Nonprofit Center, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, First Coast Relief Fund, Women’s Giving Alliance, the Beaches Community Fund, the LGBTQ Community Fund for Northeast Florida and the A.L. Lewis Black Opportunity and Impact Fund. Also, she helped bring to Jacksonville an affiliate of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., the nation’s largest community development organization.
“Without Nina’s leadership, we would not have built critical nonprofit infrastructure,” Magill said.
From Jacques Cousteau to nonprofits
Waters came to Jacksonville in 1976 to pursue a marine science degree after a childhood in land-locked Pittsburgh spent obsessing about the ocean, collecting seashells and admiring explorer Jacques Cousteau.
But she discovered some aspects of science turned her off, such as dissecting a fetal pig in biology class and the relative isolation of it all.
“I really wanted to be more engaged with people,” Waters said. “That was important to me, that was the driver.”
She changed her major to sociology, what she called “the “science of people,” and found herself intrigued by criminal justice. She had a two-year internship at then-Fairfield Correctional Institute in Jacksonville, a work-release program.
“I became frustrated with the adult system as it was — often people would return, not getting the treatment or intervention that they needed, mental health or drug treatment services especially,” she said. “In other cases, people were arrested on charges that they did indeed commit but the reasons were more survival versus criminal intent.”
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After graduation, Waters worked with at-risk youth at the Jacksonville Marine Institute — where she met her future husband, Lex, then a scuba instructor — followed by the Jacksonville Job Corps and the Pace Center for Girls.
“Reaching people at a younger age before they entered the system was where I wanted to focus my energy and passion,” she said.
Between her Job Corps and Pace Center work, Waters decided to earn some money as sales manager at Mohasco, a local flooring company. The work was not only beneficial to her paycheck but in her understanding of what she wanted for her life.
“I got a lot of business experience, but it was not meaningful,” she said.
So she stepped back into nonprofits, at Pace. “You have to be connected to why you’re working, that hopefully you’re making a difference in someone’s life,” she said.
Terrorist attacks spur demand for services, donation plunge
After 12 years at Pace, she was ready for a change. Then came the foundation job.
“Two weeks later, 9/11,” she said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. “The market crashed, the world changed.”
The 1990s economic boom boosted philanthropies. But the attacks rattled the economy. Demand for help from nonprofits increased, while donations plummeted. The same thing happened at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s the perfect storm,” Waters said. “We focused on building assets. If we don’t have funding, we can’t do the work.”
In 2005, when Andy Bell departed and the foundation’s president, Waters took over.
“She was perfectly positioned,” Magill said. “She is a great student who has the emotional maturity to learn from others, to admit what she doesn’t know … Nina has never made this about Nina; it’s always been about us.”
Her nonprofit past has been key, said Coughlin, who is also retiring this year.
“Nina’s background in nonprofit organizations meant she has a very real, very practical understanding of what nonprofits need to deliver on their missions,” she said. “It also meant that she could act as a kind of guide for both donors and nonprofits, bringing them together to create more impact and progress.”
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Waters said she views building the assets of the foundation and area nonprofits as one of her most important accomplishments. Also, the formation of the LISC affiliate, the Nonprofit Center and the Public Education Fund in particular were key to expanding the foundation’s reach, she said.
“Nina recognized that a high-capacity local education fund was needed to engage the community to help close opportunity gaps in education,” said Rachael Tutwiler Fortune, Pubilc Education Fund president. “The foundation raised the first five years of funding … and really laid the groundwork for our existence.”
Among other things, the fund has helped Duval County Public Schools make “great progress” in the high school graduation rate, which was once 55%, peaked in 2020 at 90.2%t and was 85.6% last year, she said. But challenges remain, including literacy rates and students’ mental health needs.
“That’s where The Community Foundation, through its support of other organizations and relationships with donors, can play a role.” Fortune said.
What’s next?
The foundation board wanted to honor Waters by creating a literal legacy — a special fund.
She “agreed only if the funding supported nonprofits,” Coughlin said. So the new Nina Waters Nonprofit Leadership Fund will finance executive coaching and training in effective donor cultivation and stewardship, strategic planning and promoting collaboration.
“That tells you how much she valued nonprofits,” Coughlin said.
On Aug. 25, Waters and her husband plan to move to the North Georgia mountains and spend more time with their Atlanta-based son and his family.
The foundation’s future, she said, is “really bright” with an experienced new president and staff and board. But she hopes the foundation’s community and donor reach can become more diverse.
The foundation has been a “best-kept secret” in Northeast Florida, but it’s “time to be more explicit about the values we bring,” she said.
bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109
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