This story originally appeared in the November 2025 edition of The Coastal Star
As of June, Boca Raton resident Susan Brockway concluded her nine years of board service with the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
“I first served at the Community Foundation as a grant reviewer for the MacArthur Grants, and after that I was asked to join its board of directors,” Brockway said.
While she’s involved with many charities, the Community Foundation holds a special place for her. “I am still a fund holder there,” she said.
“I was quite excited when I was first introduced to them and became involved. The Community Foundation identifies the community’s greatest needs and helps to fulfill those needs.
“I loved working with them. The growth it has experienced over those nine years was just fantastic in terms of dollars and its help to nonprofits and the community.”
Brockway, 68, was especially proud of the Community Foundation’s collaborative role within the Palm Beach County Funders Group during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Together, we created a common application for grant support, streamlining the process so that emergency funds could be distributed efficiently and quickly as the pandemic unfolded,” she said. “The support reached health centers, food pantries, child care programs and homeless shelters, helping the most vulnerable with essentials to survive during those trying times.
“In the end, the Community Foundation distributed about $3 million of our own funds while assisting others in this collaborative identify needs for their funding.”
Having retired as an accountant, she said she feels blessed to have time for her volunteer work and to enjoy her family.
Among her volunteer endeavors, Brockway will continue as a board member of her alma mater, Stetson University, and she remains actively involved with Place of Hope. Additionally, she has just joined the board of the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.
“Those are my biggest commitments,” she said.
Brockway wishes to get the word out to fellow philanthropists that the Community Foundation has a deep knowledge of local needs.
“We have so many people who have moved here, and they don’t know about the nonprofit world” in Palm Beach and Martin counties, Brockway said. “While they can still support the causes they care about back home, the Community Foundation can introduce them to how they can help” locally.
