Board of Directors
Pat Hyer
President
Retired, Associate Provost of Academic Administration
Virginia Tech
Kathy Krendl
Vice President
President Emerita Otterbein University
Senior Consultant, RH Perry
David Riggan
Treasurer
Retired Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Paula Alston
Secretary
Retired, Library Director
Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library
Nancy E. Artis
President and Owner
Enterprise Systems Services
Eric Chapman
Attorney
CowanPerry, PC
Brad Denardo
President and CEO
National Bank
Gary Hancock
Attorney
Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland and Hutton, LLP
Pat Huber
President
New River Community College
Jamie McReynolds
Fiscal, Human Resource, and Grants Technician
Moss Arts Center
Virginia Tech
Dominick McKee
Chief Human Resources Officer
Roanoke City Public Schools
John Muffo
Retired, Director of Academic Assessment Programs
Virginia Tech
Chad Reed
Vice President for Finance and Administration
Radford University
Karen Eley Sanders
Associate Vice Provost for College Access
Virginia Tech
Roger Slusher
Owner and Partner
Fields Edge, LLC
Andrew Warren
Assistant Town Manager
Town of Christiansburg
Jill E. Williams
Acting Executive Director
Calfee Community and Cultural Center
Staff
Jessica Wirgau
Chief Executive Officer
jessicawirgau@cfnrv.org
Jessica Wirgau, Chief Executive Officer, joined the Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) in 2005 as a Community Advisor, volunteering her time to read grant applications as part of the Distribution Committee. In 2006, she joined the Board of Directors and during her tenure served as chair of both the Scholarship and Distribution Committees. Jess joined the staff in 2009 as Assistant Executive Director, and in 2011 became the Executive Director (now CEO) when Andy Morikawa retired after 13 years in the role.
Jess earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Duke University and the University of Virginia, respectively. She went on to earn her doctorate in Public Administration and Public Affairs from Virginia Tech in 2014. Prior to working for the CFNRV, she worked for the Town of Blacksburg on the restoration of the Alexander Black House, and later for Virginia Tech on the development of the Moss Arts Center.
Jess currently serves on the Advisory Boards of the Virginia Impact Investing Forum and Virginia Tech Adult Day Services. She also serves on the Human Services Advisory Committee for New River Community College. She lives in Blacksburg with her husband Joe and two sons, Russell and Michael.
Laura Pynn
Administration and Programs Manager
laurapynn@cfnrv.org
Laura Pynn serves as the Administration and Programs Manager of the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. Since joining the staff in 2007, Laura has managed the grant and the scholarship programs as well as the general administrative duties of the foundation. This is a position she very much enjoys as she is a process-oriented thinker and enjoys every aspect of the foundation. She has watched the foundation grow from a 5-million-dollar foundation to a 13.8 million dollar foundation and revels in the fact that it is still growing!
Prior to joining the Community Foundation, Laura served as the Assistant Executive Director of a nonprofit organization serving the needs of recovering alcoholics. She worked there for 10 years before leaving there to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Radford University. She graduated from Radford University summa cum laude in 2007.
Laura moved to the New River Valley in 1989 where she raised her 4 children as a single mother. In addition to raising a family, she volunteered and served two terms on the Advisory Council of the RSVP Program of New River Community Action. Laura currently serves as the President of the Floyd Rotary.
Laura lives on her 80-acre goat farm in Floyd County where she hikes, gardens, and makes goat cheeses in her spare time. She enjoys seeing her grown children excel in their careers and especially enjoys her 3 grandchildren.
Ashley Ege
Director of Communications & Outreach
ashleyege@cfnrv.org
Ashley Ege serves as the Director of Communications and Outreach at the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. The newest of the three staff members, she joined in 2020. Ashley was involved with the Healthy Roots initiative before starting with the Community Foundation. She oversees the GiveLocalNRV annual giving day, Nonprofit Institute, and communications for the Foundation. She enjoys this position because it allows her to interact with several nonprofits in the community, as well as interacting with donors and other community members.
Before joining the Community Foundation, Ashley was a Senior Director of Development for the American Heart Association overseeing a small team and the small market campaigns in the state of Virginia. The campaigns she managed were Heart Walk, Heart Ball, and Go Red for Women luncheons with a $750,000 annual non-restricted goal. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration with a Marketing concentration from Radford University and her Master of Business Administration from Liberty University.
She serves on the Board of Prevention Connections and was involved with the Blacksburg Junior Women’s Club for several years. She enjoys exercise, reading, the outdoors, and mentoring others. She lives in Elliston with her husband Ryan and two children, Cameron, and Annabelle.
Community Advisors
Jay Abbott
Jayanne Bridges
Aliya Chapman
Catherine Cotrupi
Bill Gardner
Ann Heyns
John Hillison
Marilyn Hutchins
Dave Marone
Emily Perkins
Richard Shepherd
Patricia Shoemaker
Josh Smith
Terrie Sternberg
Anne Wheeler
Directors Emeritus
C. Barry Anderson
Marilyn Buhyoff
Jackie Crenshaw
Peggy Eaton
Terri Fisher
Ginny Gardner
Steve Gerus
Courtney Grohs
Hugh Jenkins
Reed Kennedy
Dwayne Kittle
Ed Lawhorn
Hing-Har Lo
Barbara Michelsen
Robert K. Miller
Robert Nicholson, III
Beth Obenshain
Bob Piscura
Ellen Ryan
Doug Smartt
Chris Thompson
Joel Williams