The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) welcomes three new members to its Board of Directors. Each July, the board roster changes as board member terms expire and new members join. This year, Nancy Artis and Dr. Kathy Krendl from Montgomery County, and Roger Slusher from Floyd County will join the board for three-year terms.
Nancy E. Artis
Nancy E. Artis is a graduate of Radford University. She and her husband permanently relocated to Montgomery County after living in California and Colorado to be closer to their alma maters. Nancy has been a high school biology teacher, an engineering technician at Exxon Chemical, training coordinator and account executive at Metier Management Systems, national federal accounts sales manager at Oracle, and VP of administration and finance at Performance Associates. She is currently consulting. Nancy has served on the Board of Visitors for Radford University and on the Radford University Foundation board.
Nancy has known of the CFNRV for several years and was intrigued by the four initiatives of the Foundation’s Fund for the NRV. She has been very involved with nonprofits over her career and knows the difference that they can make in a community. She believes the Fund for the NRV initiatives can make that difference. Thrive, focused on food access, and Aging in Place, focused on housing and services for an aging population, are the two initiatives that stood out the most for her. In her nonprofit work over the years, Nancy observed how communities can successfully address important issues when nonprofits and community members pull together and do not compete with one another. She is a big fan of making things happen and not “kicking a can down the road.
Dr. Kathy Krendl
Kathy Krendl recently relocated to Montgomery County after retiring as the President of Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. She has served as an administrator at both large public research universities as well as small independent institutions in leadership roles as dean, provost, executive vice president, and president. She currently consults with a presidential search firm.
Kathy has known about the CFNRV for several years. She served as a mentor for the Lyric Council during the 2019 Nonprofit Accelerator, and she reviewed grant applications as part of the distribution committee. Kathy is passionate about women’s leadership and has launched collaborative programs to encourage women to prepare for and succeed in leadership roles. When it comes to serving on the CFNRV Board, she was naturally drawn to the educational components of the foundation given her academic background. But the pandemic has raised urgent issues of food security and how to get healthy fruits and vegetables to all families, a high priority for the CFNRV collaborative network, Thrive, and a growing interest for her. She hopes to nurture partnerships and build capacity for the nonprofits that we serve.
Roger Slusher
Roger Slusher grew up on a farm in Floyd and graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Dairy and Animal Science. He owned an insurance agency in Central Pennsylvania for nearly 30-years before returning to the family farm in Floyd two years ago, where he and his wife breed and show champion Spaniels and raise beef cattle and specialty produce. He served on a school board advisory committee and was an active leader in his church council in Pennsylvania.
The CFNRV is new to Roger but the help that it provides to other nonprofits intrigued him. This is the first nonprofit leadership role that Roger has taken since moving back to Floyd. He is familiar with Plenty!, a food assistance organization, and many of the other nonprofit organizations in Floyd that partner with the CFNRV throughout the year. These agencies receive grants and are active participants in the annual giving day, GiveLocalNRV. Roger will serve on the investment committee. His grounding in the Floyd community will provide important perspectives on the needs and opportunities of that region.
Every two years, the leadership of the board also changes. This July, Dr. Pat Hyer of Montgomery County succeeded Ed Lawhorn as board president. Pat says “Nancy, Kathy and Roger each come with different but admirable skills and backgrounds that will enhance the CFNRV board. I know that their leadership experience, informed perspectives, and commitment to service will propel our mission forward.” Pat has served as a board member for four years and is a true advocate of the foundation. Joining Pat board leadership roles are David Riggan of Giles County serving as vice president, and Paula Alston and Chad Reed of Montgomery County serving as secretary and treasurer respectively.