Our Board

The Community Investment Committee reviews all grant applications for Akron Community Foundation's quarterly grant cycles: Arts & Culture, Civic Affairs, Health & Human Services, and Education. Committee members meet with nonprofit organizations to learn about and evaluate their programs. They also determine funding priorities for the year and make grant decisions in accordance with the community foundation’s guiding principles.

2020-2021 Committee Members:
Doug Kuczynski, chair
Whitt Butler
Carla Chapman
Robert Cooper
Kimberly Haws Falasco
Sarah Friebert, M.D.
Bennett Gaines
Jody Miller Konstand
Steven P. Schmidt, Ph.D.
Ilene Shapiro
Katie Smucker
Stephen Strayer
Dr. Rachel Talton
Sylvia Trundle
Keeven White

The Community Relations Committee is responsible for growing Akron Community Foundation's endowment. Committee members create fundraising strategies and work to expand the community foundation’s relationships with current and prospective fundholders. They also track the number of gifts and funds each quarter and set future fundraising goals. In addition, the committee works with staff to advance the community foundation's mission through news, events, advertising and other activities.

2020-2021 Committee Members:
Marty Hauser, chair
Robert Cooper
Rob Malone
Jim Pickard
F. William Steere
Dr. Rachel Talton
Keeven White

The Executive Committee is a representative group composed of board officers and committee chairs. This committee is responsible for the management of the organization between meetings of the board of directors.

2020-2021 Committee Members:
Richard C. Fedorovich, Chair
Ilene Shapiro, Vice Chair
J. Bret Treier, Secretary
Jim Pickard, Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair
Doug Kuczynski, Community Investment Committee Chair
Marty Hauser, Community Relations Committee Chair
Katie Smucker, Governance Committee Chair
Stephen Strayer, Immediate Past Chair
John T. Petures Jr., Ex Officio

The Finance and Investment Committee plays a critical role in protecting and growing Akron Community Foundation's endowment for the good of the community. The committee’s main responsibility is to oversee the community foundation’s financial operations and ensure its investment portfolio is managed prudently. Other responsibilities include:

• Developing investment policy guidelines with a focus on long-term growth
• Selecting asset classes and establishing an asset allocation policy
• Reviewing management and investment costs that affect the community foundation’s portfolio
• Evaluating the community foundation’s investment performance by comparing it to portfolios with similar assets and total value
• Selecting investment managers and allocating assets among those managers
• Analyzing the performance of investment managers relative to their respective benchmarks and peer groups
• Replacing any investment managers that are not following the community foundation’s policies or achieving its objectives

2020-2021 Committee Members:
Jim Pickard, chair
Richard C. Fedorovich
Bennett Gaines
Derrick Ransom
Ilene Shapiro
J. Bret Treier
Mike Zeleznik

The Audit Committee is responsible for reviewing all of the community foundation’s yearly audit processes, internal control systems, and public financial information. The committee is composed of independent directors that are not associated with any major vendors or customers of the community foundation. In addition to overseeing audit matters, the committee provides an open line of communication between the auditors and the board of directors. Committee members also have the power to conduct investigations into the community foundation’s internal financial systems, ensuring that the community foundation operates with the utmost transparency and fiscal integrity.

2020-2021 Committee Members:
Derrick Ransom, chair
Whitt Butler
Richard C. Fedorovich
Mike Zeleznik

The Governance Committee is responsible for cultivating new board members. With input from board officers, committee members identify upstanding members of the community whose skills and expertise would be a valuable addition to the board. They also oversee the orientation and training of new board members.

2020-2021 Committee Members:
Katie Smucker, chair
Robert Cooper
Sarah Friebert, M.D.
Marty Hauser
Rob Malone
Stephen Strayer