A year already?

As I wake up today and reflect on my first 365 days as President and CEO of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, I am filled with gratitude.

Carter Mountain Views

In the span of a single year, I have gained new colleagues, new friends, new partners, and new neighbors. I have discovered new skills, new perspectives, a new daily view, and perhaps most importantly, a renewed sense of peace, purpose, and self.

When I arrived, I stepped into a role I had long dreamed of holding. I arrived with excitement, energy, and a notebook full of ideas. But before looking forward, I knew I needed to understand what had come before.

I spent my earliest days listening.

I listened to my predecessor. I listened to our staff. I listened to board members, fundholders, nonprofit leaders, public servants, and community members. And through those conversations, I came to appreciate the extraordinary weight this organization had carried.

Over the last decade, the Community Foundation had been called into service again and again. Following the tragic events of August 11 and 12, 2017, the Foundation helped steward the community’s response to grief, division, and harm. Grounded in love, justice, solidarity, and repair, our team invested in healing while helping the region imagine a more inclusive future.

Then came COVID-19.

Like so many organizations across the country, our team was asked to respond to a crisis unlike any we had experienced before. They moved quickly, partnered deeply, and delivered resources when people needed them most. They worked through uncertainty, loss, and exhaustion while helping countless others find stability and hope.

By the time I arrived, the team had spent nearly a decade carrying the weight of extraordinary circumstances. They were resilient. They were committed. They were deeply trusted.

And they were tired. Taking care of them became my first priority.

Before we could ask our team to imagine the future, we needed to create space for them to recover from the past. We spent our first months together listening, healing, simplifying, and rebuilding. We identified pressure points and removed barriers. We created room to breathe. Slowly, the light began to return.

As our internal footing strengthened, I turned outward. Across the region, I heard a similar message. People were proud of their Community Foundation. They valued our leadership during moments of crisis. But they also longed for something more. They wanted a Foundation that was visible, engaged, and willing to fully step back into the arena. They wanted clarity about who we are, what we do, and how philanthropy can be leveraged to create lasting change across our region.

Those conversations shaped our work over the last year. Together, we have focused on strengthening the enterprise so we can increase our impact. We have modernized systems, documented processes, updated policies, improved governance practices, and strengthened financial stewardship.

We have expanded our investment platform through new offerings that reflect the evolving priorities of our fundholders and partners, including both intermediate-term and socially responsible investment options. We have welcomed new partners who bring best-in-class expertise and technology to help us operate more efficiently, steward resources more effectively, and serve our community more fully.

We have grown our team, our committees, and our board to better reflect the people and places we serve while ensuring we have the skills, experiences, and perspectives needed for the future. And we have begun the important work of clarifying our voice, our value, and our role in the region.

Because community foundations occupy a unique place in civic life. We are investors, conveners, advocates, stewards, and partners. We sit at the intersection of generosity and possibility.

Our responsibility is not simply to manage charitable assets. It is to help communities imagine what is possible, align resources around shared aspirations, and bring data and people together to solve problems no single institution can solve alone.

Today, I see CACF re-entering the arena.

We are participating in some of the most important conversations shaping the future of our region. We are helping align partners around shared priorities. We are making strategic investments where they can create leveraged impact. We are strengthening philanthropy while building new pathways for generosity, belonging, and opportunity.

Most importantly, we are preparing for what comes next. As we approach our 60th anniversary next year, we are evaluating our strategic direction with fresh eyes, renewed urgency, and a deep commitment to the communities we serve.

The world is changing.

Our region is changing.

And community foundations must evolve alongside them.

The next chapter of CACF will require the same values that have guided us for six decades but it will also require innovation, adaptability, and a willingness to lead. I am excited about what lies ahead. Thank you for entrusting me with this opportunity.

Thank you for welcoming my family and me into this remarkable community.

And thank you for believing, as I do, that our best work is still in front of us.

Onward,

Leslie