Hilary Canty of OICF to be honored with Leadership Award at EDC luncheon

Published 1:30 am Friday, August 18, 2023

Hilary Canty, Executive Director of Orcas Island Community Foundation will be honored with a Community Leadership Award from the San Juans Economic Development Council.

Hilary will also be the keynote speaker at this year’s 14th Annual EDC Economics Luncheon. Community members and leaders are invited to join in A Celebration of Community Leadership at the Annual EDC Economics Luncheon, to be held at Brickworks in Friday Harbor on Wednesday, Sept. 13 from noon until 1:30 p.m..

Hilary Canty joined the Orcas Island Community Foundation as Executive Director in June of 2007. In this role, she works with a variety of individuals and organizations to strengthen the Orcas community, build capacity, fortify organizational architecture, and connect individuals to the causes they most care about.

During her 17-year tenure, the Foundation has been and is cited in the top 20 Community Foundations nationally for the exceptional distribution rate and gifts per capita. OICF distributes $2-3 Million in grants annually, with 95% of those funds serving the island community. Under Hilary’s leadership, assets under management have grown from $700,000 to $25 Million.

Hilary and the Community Foundation led the efforts to start an emergency relief fund for Orcas Island during the covid pandemic. The many nonprofits that provided safety net services needed to ramp up their efforts to meet the quickly rising needs of islanders. OICF, through the Community Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), raised and facilitated the distribution of $3M in emergency support, ensuring all in need had access to food, housing, and other social services.

OICF is currently working in collaboration with the Orcas Community Resource Center, OPAL Community Land Trust and the Orcas Island Food Bank to purchase the Pea Patch property in Eastsound for a Community Campus. The campus will feature a Community Resource Center (that will also serve as a day use center), a larger Food Bank and affordable rental homes through OPAL Community Land Trust. This collaboration will carry the work started during the pandemic and will ensure our local safety net services are readily available to all in need.

Hilary is a lifelong volunteer, having served on the Doe Bay Community Association Board and as a volunteer EMT with Orcas Fire and Rescue for over 20 years. She is currently a volunteer with the Food Bank. She and her family have been residents of Olga for over 30 years.

The gala luncheon event is sponsored in part by Heritage Bank, Windermere SJI Real Estate, Kings Market, and Coldwell Banker San Juan Islands. This year’s event will focus on community nonprofit leadership that has helped to stabilize island families and create economic resilience for islanders. As the keynote speaker, Hilary will share her work in helping to lead the Orcas Island community through the Covid-19 pandemic and economic downturn. Leaders from family resource centers and community foundations throughout the county and region will be present. Tickets can be purchased at: www.sanjuansedc.org/luncheon.