Friday, November 1, 2013
WARREN
Jennifer Roller, a Youngstown native, is acting president of the Raymond John Wean Foundation.
The foundation is not engaged in an active search to fill the position of president on a permanent basis. Instead, it is “pausing to assess its options,” officials said. Her appointment was effective Oct. 7
The foundation board had been conducting a search for a new president for several months after the resignation of Jeffrey M. Glebocki, who came to the Wean Foundation in 2011 from Arizona. Glebocki left to return to Tucson, Ariz., to expand Strategy + Action Consulting, a company he founded that advises philanthropic institutions around the country.
Roller has been with the foundation since 2007, most recently as vice president and interim president.
“Recognizing that Jennifer Roller has been integrally involved in the development and implementation of the foundation’s strategies and evaluation process, the board feels that selecting Jennifer to guide the foundation as acting president makes perfect sense,” said Gordon Wean, board chairman.
Roller has represented the foundation’s interests as a civic leader, staying abreast of current civic affairs and trends.
Alongside the foundation’s past two presidents, she has worked closely with strategic partners to ensure alignment of the foundation’s shared vision and strategic initiatives. She also developed and supervised the foundation’s Neighborhood SUCCESS and Leadership Program, Wean said.
Before coming to the foundation in 2007, she was director of Upward Bound and SCOPE at Youngstown State University, where she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
In January 2013, she completed a one-year fellowship with the Association of Black Foundation Executives, an independent membership organization that promotes effective and responsive philanthropy in black communities.
The mission of the Wean Foundation, established in 1949 by industrialist Raymond John Wean, is to empower residents by creating a healthy, vibrant and economically stable Mahoning Valley with equal opportunity for all.
The foundation targets its financial and technical support to nonprofit organizations and associations, as well as public-sector and academic institutions, working in these practice and policy domains: early childhood, educational opportunity, economic opportunity, community revitalization and public- and civic-sector leadership.