Funder FAQ

The Nash Group Community Foundation was incorporated in Missouri in November 2025 and is recognized by the IRS under Section 501(c)(3). Our EIN is 36-5158652. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

TNGCF is currently governed by its founder, Dr. Troy Nash, who serves as interim governance while the founding Board of Directors is recruited. The bylaws and governance policies are drafted and pending adoption by that Board. The Board will provide strategic oversight with fiduciary responsibility once seated. Once the Board is seated, Board approval will be required for all expenditures exceeding $5,000. Board members, once seated, and staff, once hired, will file annual conflict of interest disclosures. Our organizational bylaws, governance policies, and financial controls are detailed on our Leadership and Financials pages.

Dr. Troy Nash, CEO & Co-Founder, Doctorate (Ed.D.) from Saint Louis University. 35+ years of experience spanning healthcare, housing, community development, banking, and higher education. Current board member of University Health, Paramount Financial Group, and Jazz District Redevelopment Corporation. Former board member of Arvest Bank, UMKC Trustees, and Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center. Former Vice Chairman, Missouri Housing Development Commission (2009 to 2017). Assistant Teaching Professor and Director of the Lewis White Real Estate Center at UMKC.

TNGCF was incorporated in November 2025, but the work behind it spans 35+ years. The Foundation is the formalization of 35+ years of work by Dr. Troy Nash in Kansas City, including executive roles in housing and real estate, faculty service in higher education, and service on healthcare and banking boards.

The Foundation was built before it launched, not after. At incorporation, TNGCF already had: a complete 29-course curriculum across 8 life domains, a Theory of Change with logic model, SROI projections, financial governance controls, legal compliance documentation, and a planned UMKC academic partnership.

Three things. We teach, through the From Struggle to Success Academy™: 29 courses across 8 life domains, free for participants. We mentor: volunteer mentors guide graduates for 6 to 12 months, and graduates then mentor the next cohort. We connect: the Academy intake assessment matches each participant to community services, employers who commit to interviewing graduates, and referral partners. All three launch in 2027, pending funding. Read more on We Mentor and We Connect.

The From Struggle to Success Academy™ is a comprehensive life transformation program featuring 29 courses across 8 life domains and 141 hours of instruction. Rather than addressing a single issue (housing only, or employment only), the Academy addresses the interconnected root causes of poverty through an integrated, evidence-informed curriculum.

The 8 domains are: Housing Stability, Health & Wellness, Economic Mobility, Education, Technology & AI, Civic Engagement, Environment, and Purpose & Community.

The Academy is evidence-informed, meaning its curriculum is built on established research and proven methodologies from across the social sciences, public health, adult education, and community development. The curriculum draws on published research and practice in each domain.

As a new program, we do not yet have our own longitudinal outcome data. That is precisely why we have built a rigorous Evaluation Framework, with UMKC planned as our third-party evaluator, to measure and validate outcomes from day one.

Most social service programs address one problem at a time: job training, financial literacy, or housing assistance. The Academy is different because it treats poverty as a systemic, multi-domain condition that requires a systemic, multi-domain solution.

A participant who gets a job but can't afford stable housing, manage their health, or navigate the legal system will cycle back into crisis. The Academy's 8-domain approach ensures that every barrier is addressed, not just the most visible one.

Additionally, the program extends beyond graduation through a Mentor & Multiply phase, where graduates become mentors to the next cohort, creating a multiplier effect that no single-domain program can achieve.

The curriculum was designed by Dr. Troy Nash, drawing on his doctoral research at Saint Louis University, 35+ years of experience across healthcare, housing, community development, banking, and higher education, and a lived experience of transformation, from growing up in the very conditions the Academy addresses to serving on the boards of Kansas City institutions.

A planned partnership with UMKC (University of Missouri – Kansas City) would provide credit articulation and independent academic validation of the curriculum. This partnership is designed so the program meets university-level educational standards.

We have a comprehensive Evaluation Framework that tracks transformation across all 8 life domains using the Academy intake assessment. Measurement occurs at four points: baseline intake (Months 1–3), mid-point check-in (Months 4–8), capstone & graduation (Months 9–12), and post-graduation follow-up (Year 2+).

Data collection includes individual progress dashboards, cohort-level analytics, employment and income tracking, housing stability records, and cost-per-outcome calculations.

By 2030, we are targeting: 500 Academy graduates who complete the full 29-course curriculum, and a 75% employment rate(employed or self-employed within 12 months of graduation; the U.S. Department of Labor reports 72.3% employed in the 4th quarter after exit for its WIOA Adult program, PY 2024). Housing stability and mentoring targets will be set from the first cohort's measured results after Year 1.

The University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) is our planned third-party evaluator. The planned partnership would provide credit articulation for Academy courses and program evaluation through a university research partnership. External validation is designed so our outcomes data meets academic and institutional standards.

Public statistics on our Kansas City Data page each name their source next to the figure.

Our projected SROI is 3.0:1, meaning $2.98 in modeled value per $1 invested. This is a pre-program projection, not a measured result, and no cohort has completed the Academy. Two of the five unit values are drawn from published sources: net savings of roughly $4,800 per chronically homeless person placed in supportive housing each year, per the National Alliance to End Homelessness (February 17, 2017), and $22,187 per incarcerated person annually per the Vera Institute of Justice for Missouri. The remaining unit values and all participant counts are internal assumptions. Sourced inputs account for 20 percent of the modeled total.

The full SROI methodology with line-item justification is detailed on our Financials page.

Our full budget breakdown is publicly available on the Financials page. Funding is allocated across program delivery (instruction, mentorship, participant support), operations (staffing, technology, facilities), evaluation (planned UMKC partnership, data systems), and community outreach. We publish detailed line-item budgets because we believe funders deserve to see exactly where every dollar goes.

TNGCF maintains rigorous financial controls including: a dedicated nonprofit bank account with dual signature requirement for all expenditures; QuickBooks nonprofit accounting with full audit trail; Board approval will be required, once the Board is seated, for expenditures exceeding $5,000; annual conflict of interest disclosures by all board members once seated and staff once hired; and a 7-year document retention policy.

Our GuideStar/Candid profile is currently in progress. As a foundation incorporated in November 2025, we are working toward achieving the Silver Seal of Transparency. In the interim, we provide full organizational transparency directly on our website: governing documents, financial details, theory of change, and evaluation framework are all publicly accessible.

We offer structured investment tiers designed for foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual donors. Each tier includes specific deliverables, reporting commitments, and recognition. Full details of investment tiers and partnership structures are available on our Partner page.

Year 1 is designed to produce measurable outcomes that validate the model and support subsequent funding applications. After our first cohort completes the Academy, we will publish a Year 1 Impact Report with verified outcomes data from our planned UMKC evaluation partnership. This data becomes the foundation for multi-year grant applications and expanded program delivery.

The Mentor & Multiply model also creates built-in sustainability: as graduates become mentors, program delivery costs decrease while community impact increases.

Yes. TNGCF is a lifelong mission.

The story begins with Charlotte Ward, whose sacrifice broke the cycle of poverty for her family. That transformation now continues through the work of the Foundation. The organizational structure, documented processes, curriculum, and governance framework are designed to operate beyond any single individual.

Our funding strategy targets multiple streams: foundation grants(health, workforce, housing, education foundations); corporate partnerships(employer engagement, sponsorships); government funding(federal, state, and municipal programs); and individual donors. Our Partner page segments outreach by funder type, and each segment speaks directly to that funder's priorities and language.

TNGCF serves individuals and families in Kansas City's most underserved communities, neighborhoods where zip codes have historically determined destinies. Our participants are adults facing interconnected barriers across housing, employment, health, education, and financial stability. Details about who we serve are on our Who We Serve page, and the crisis-level statistics driving our work are on our Kansas City Data page.