After 20 years of being executive director of the Union County Community Foundation (UCCF), Elise Drake has announced her retirement.
Drake was the first executive director hired by UCCF in 1998 and announced her retirement to the board of directors in May at the foundation’s annual meeting, according to UCCF Chairman of the board, Rodney Landes.
“No one individual has meant more to UCCF than Elise,” Landes said. “We can’t thank her enough for her leadership during her tenure, for the relationships she established with our donors and for her creativity in establishing projects and programs for UCCF.”
When Drake first began her job with UCCF, the foundation had about seven charitable funds and approximately $4 million in assets. The foundation now has over $22 million in assets and approximately 75 funds.
“Since she was hired in 1998, UCCF has awarded over $10 million in grants and scholarships to our community, which is remarkable,” Landes added.
The foundation created a search committee that is currently looking to hire someone to fill the executive director position.
The search committee is made up of individuals who are also on the executive committee: Landes, chairman, Wanda Ragsdale, vice chair, Jack Wilson, secretary, Robin Thornton, treasurer and Julie Tidwell, personnel chairman.
“I have loved my job as the UCCF Executive Director,” Drake said. “I’ve often called it the best job a person can have in that the only people who walk through my office door are people who want to do good things for our community.”
Drake said UCCF’s only goal is to do something good to help others by establishing a charitable fund or scholarship, “and I’ve been the lucky individual who gets to shepherd them through the process of achieving their philanthropic objective.”
Drake said that many of their donors have established funds as memorials, and have created the funds at UCCF under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
“They taught me so much about grace and courage and moving forward when it’s so very hard to do so,” Drake said. “I admire them all and have come to love so many of them.”
Drake also noted the friendships that have been created with her fellow board members that have served over the years.
“Just as our donors only want to do good things for our community, the same is true of our board members, who have been a blessing in my life,” she said. “I have no doubt that UCCF will hire the perfect person to take UCCF to its next level of growth and achievement and I can’t wait to meet him or her.”
The job description, along with an application is available online at the foundation’s website. The deadline for receiving all applications is Oct. 12 and the interview process will begin the week of Oct. 22.
“It is our intention to hire an executive director by the first week in November, but we are flexible in the process, so it could be sooner or later than that date,” Landes said.
Landes also encourages interested individuals to learn about community foundations and their purpose by researching them online.
“There are thousands of community foundations in our country, but I believe there are only three independent community foundations in Arkansas,” Landes said.
Landes added that UCCF started as an affiliate of the Arkansas Commmunity Foundation in the early 1990s, and became a separate entity in 1997. Landes noted that the foundation still has an excellent relationship with the Arkansas Community Foundation but believes “that independence has served our community well.”
Drake said a basic understanding of philanthropy is necessary for the job, as well as a basic understanding of the financial marketplace as it relates to philanthropic investment. She added that one doesn’t need to be an expert on securities and fixed income investment because that is the job of the foundation’s money manager with oversight by the board’s finance and investment committee, “but one does need a basic knowledge of asset allocation and management.”
She said the primary focus of the executive director’s job is to develop and maintain relationships with donors and to provide them with all of the necessary tools and information they need to reach their charitable goals.
“I’ve never met anybody associated with community foundations who doesn’t have an appreciation of people in general, and who have compassion for people who have lost loved ones,” Drake said.
Drake added that public speaking is a necessary skill because the executive director not only tells the story of UCCF to various interested groups and agencies, but he or she will also announce many scholarship grant awards, “which is such an uplifting and fun aspect of the job.”
Landes said he was hopeful in filling the executive director position quickly, stating “we have a very strong nonprofit community in El Dorado.”
For more information on the foundation and to find the executive director job description and application, visit www.uccfar.org.
Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].
