New Faces & Exciting Changes at The Community Foundation
There have been a number of exciting changes happening at The Community Foundation these past few months!
The Community Foundation Board of Trustees
The Community Foundation would like to thank Cliff White, who recently finished his service as Vice Chair of The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Cliff has been a tireless advocate for families in our region. In 2008, he served as founder and chair of the Neighbors in Need Montgomery Fund, which mobilized more than $1.5 million to help low-income residents. In 2017, The Community Foundation recognized Cliff as our 2017 Montgomery County Philanthropist of the Year. We are grateful for his leadership!
We are also excited to welcome Denielle Pemberton Heard, as the new Vice Chair of The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Denielle has served on our Board of Trustees since 2020 and currently serves as Chair of the Nominating Committee for our Board of Trustees.
Montgomery County Advisory Board
The Community Foundation is pleased to welcome the following individuals as the newest members of its Advisory Board in Montgomery County:
Alice Nappy
Alice is the recently retired Executive Director of VisArts, a nonprofit arts organization in Rockville, Maryland. During her 15-year tenure, she oversaw the planning, implementation, and management of all VisArts’ programs, personnel, services, and systems. Under her leadership, the organization grew to a $3.5 million operating budget serving more than 30,000 individuals annually through gallery exhibitions, studio artist programs, art classes, and camps.
Alice is especially proud of launching the VisAbility Art Lab, a studio program for artists with disabilities that provides space for them to create art and sell their work. The program recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. With more than 40 years of nonprofit experience, Alice has provided comprehensive fundraising and organizational management services to a wide range of organizations. Her work has included developing fundraising strategies, recruiting staff, strengthening boards, and coordinating special events. Her clients have ranged from arts organizations such as the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts to veterans’ groups like Operation Homefront.
An active community member, Alice has served on the Montgomery County Nighttime Economy Task Force, the Richard Montgomery High School Instructional Council as parent liaison, and on the Public Policy Committee of the Rockville Chamber of Commerce. She is a graduate of the 2019 Leadership Montgomery Core Program and currently serves on the board of Arrived, a nonprofit supporting immigrants in accessing safety, stability, and opportunity. She is also a member of Impact100 DC, a community of women collectively funding high-impact grants in the DC metro region. Alice is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She lives in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband, Jonathan, and enjoys travel, reading, cooking, and spending time with her grandson.
Susan Traver
Susan is a Partner and Senior Advisor at Brown Advisory. Susan has over thirty years' experience working with families to understand and solve their unique wealth management needs including investment management, strategic planning and client service.
Outside of the office, Susan currently serves on the Board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, DC and is a former Board Member of Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland and Elon University Love School of Business.
Susan earned her BS from Auburn University and her MBA from American University.
Prince George’s County Advisory Board
The Community Foundation is pleased to welcome Nafisah Scott as the newest member of its Advisory Board in Prince George’s County:
Nafisah Scott
Nafisah Scott is a philanthropy and public policy professional committed to advancing equitable economic mobility through strategic partnerships and cross-sector collaboration. Her experience spans the Strada Education Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Greater Washington Community Foundation, where she has supported research and initiatives focused on improving social and economic outcomes for historically marginalized communities. With strong relationships across the DMV's philanthropic, nonprofit, and civic sectors, Nafisah is proud to serve on the Greater Washington Community Foundation's Prince George's County Advisory Board and looks forward to deepening partnerships, expanding opportunity, and helping grow a thriving Prince George's County. She'll soon begin her role as Coordinator of Development Operations at the DC Public Education Fund and holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland. Outside of work, she enjoys being an older sister, cultivating community, and staying active with a great playlist.
Community Foundation Staff Promotions & Updates
Alex Cahill-Sanidas, Senior Operations Associate
We’re excited to share that Alex Cahill-Sanidas has been promoted to Senior Operations Associate!
Alex joined The Community Foundation in 2023. He has been a key member of our Operations team, including working behind the scenes to support our upcoming systems transformation work. Thank you for all that you do!
Dismailin Chalas, Senior Accounting Associate
Congratulations to Dismailin Chalas who has been promoted to Senior Accounting Associate!
Dismailin also joined The Community Foundation in October 2023. She has been a valued member of our Finance team, working tirelessly to ensure that our gift and grant processing runs smoothly. We are so appreciative for all that she does and are excited to support her growth in the new role!
Darius Graham, Managing Director of Community Investment
The Community Foundation announced that Darius Graham would be leaving the organization in early July to accept an exciting new career opportunity.
Darius joined The Community Foundation in October 2023 and lead the strategic development of The Community Foundation’s community investment work – with a specific emphasis on our economic mobility approach. We are grateful for his leadership within our organization and across the Greater Washington region and wish him all the best in this exciting new chapter!
Investing in Renewal
After more than a decade at The Community Foundation and over six years of incredible leadership, our President & CEO Tonia Wellons will be taking a 3-month sabbatical from July 1 through September 30.
During this time period, our Senior Philanthropic Advisor and General Counsel, Tiffanie Purvis will serve as Acting CEO, supported by our experienced executive leadership team. In addition, The Community Foundation's Board of Trustees recently approved a sabbatical policy that extends the same benefit to any staff member who has been with The Community Foundation for seven or more years.
We recognize that sabbaticals remain rare in our sector. The demands of nonprofit leadership, the urgency of the work, and the pressure to do more with less, too often leave little room for the kind of renewal that sustains leaders and organizations over the long term. The research is clear that executive burnout is one of the leading drivers of leadership transitions in the nonprofit sector, and those transitions carry real costs for the communities we serve.