Community Foundation Hires Firm for President & CEO Search

In August, Dr. Les Garner, President & CEO of the Community Foundation since 2010, announced his retirement. During his tenure, the organization’s assets and grant distributions more than doubled. His leadership has created a solid foundation for the organization to continue supporting Linn County well into the future.

Les plans to retire in June 2023, which has allowed time for the Community Foundation to prepare for his departure.

Okpara Rice, Board Chair and Diana Ledford, Chair-Elect, are leading a search committee of other Board members including Jasmine Almoayyed, Rod Dooley, Jim Haddad, Salma Igram, Jon Landon, Chris Lindell, and Michelle Niermann. The committee recently hired Kittleman & Associates, an executive search firm with extensive experience in community foundation CEO searches. The committee is working with the firm to gather input from constituents to finalize a job description in the coming weeks.

“The Community Foundation is an important connector and convenor for our community,” said Okpara Rice, Board Chair. “Because of this community leadership role, we are pleased to have the expertise of Kittleman. We have been impressed with their process so far and we look forward to the next steps.”

The job is expected to be posted in January 2023. Kittleman will be conducting a local and national search.