Visionaries for Change Celebrates Five Years of Excellence

For five years, one of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s most visible and effective demonstrations of its commitment to racial equity has been lived by the members of Visionaries for Change.

This giving circle was founded five years ago with 65 members. It has grown to 124 members with an endowment of more than $1 million. This fund has allowed Visionaries members to award grants totaling more than $100,000 to charitable organizations in the Black community.

Members gathered in June 2025 at The Mustard Seed Place in Portsmouth to celebrate the enduring impact of their focused philanthropy.

“We invite you to join us and together we can create change in the community,” said Vivian Oden, the Foundation’s vice president for equity and inclusion and the creator of Visionaries for Change. “We are stronger together.”

The five-year anniversary celebration included food, music, dancing and fellowship, as well as a testimonial from Nikkia Smith Tolbert. The nonprofit she founded, Hearts Full of Grace, was one of the first organizations to receive grant funding from Visionaries for Change. 

Tolbert told members that she created Hearts Full of Grace after she lost her husband to a shooting in 2009. 

“I felt like I heard God say that your help, your healing, will come from helping others,” she said. 

She started with a food drive in the pre-kindergarten classroom where she taught. Some doubted it would be successful.

“I said: here’s a lesson that we are going to learn. People who have something, even when it’s a little, generally have a desire to give,” Tolbert said. “We are going to demonstrate what happens when we come together, collectively… if we have a little, what happens when we put all of that together? What difference will we make?”

She filled her classroom with food. Now, Hearts Full of Grace helps to feed people with food insecurity but also provides mental health support, coaching and mentoring to women who have experienced trauma.

“That would not have happened on that magnitude had it not been for those funds,” Tolbert said. “We are, as an organization, so grateful, so grateful for the work that you do.”

Jazmine Smith, a member of Visionaries for Change and a co-chair of the Membership and Planning committee, said she believes in the mission.

“Our community is not lacking in ingenuity, in creativity or innovation,” she said. “A lot of times we're just lacking in resources and being connected to the right people. Visionaries is an amazing group of people who are coming together who understand the impact of serving, of philanthropy, of giving back, supporting local businesses and nonprofits. I want to be a part of it.”

Foundation President and CEO Dr. Deborah M. DiCroce noted other impacts of the Foundation’s commitment to racial equity, including the annual Black Philanthropy Month celebration and a series of community forums on various historical perspectives of racial equity in areas like law, housing, and education.

Visionaries for Change helped reveal missing voices in philanthropy.

“Visionaries for Change has left such a mark,” DiCroce said. “Warmest congratulations to all of the Visionaries and heartfelt thanks for choosing the Hampton Roads Community Foundation as your partner.”