Nancy Kieling, who has led the Princeton Area Community Foundation for its first 20 years, will be retiring at the end of the year, the Community Foundation Board of Trustees has announced.
“After 20 years of extraordinary leadership, the Board and I are happy for Nancy as she embarks on a new phase in her life and grateful for the strong position she will leave the Community Foundation in upon her departure,” said David R. Scott, chair, Board of Trustees.
Hired in 1994 as the Community Foundation’s first full-time paid executive director, Kieling brought the Community Foundation from its infancy to its standing today as a leader and advocate for the nonprofit sector in Central New Jersey. She has been the driving force in taking the Community Foundation’s assets from $300,000 in 1994 to nearly $100 million today. That monumental growth has enabled the Community Foundation to grant out more than $7 million per year to deserving nonprofits.
Kieling said it has been a privilege to watch the Community Foundation evolve from a tiny, nascent organization with donated computers and desks into an organization impacting thousands of lives every year in Central Jersey.
“I am pleased the Community Foundation is stable, focused and poised to take the next step,” Kieling said. “It is now time for someone else to build on our good work and escalate the Community Foundation to an even greater level of community service.”
Scott said Kieling’s energy, enthusiasm, financial acumen, and devotion to her job have literally made her the face of the Community Foundation to countless philanthropists in Central New Jersey and beyond. “Thanks to Nancy’s efforts and achievements over the last 20 years, the Community Foundation faces a very bright future,” he said. “But Nancy will be sorely missed.”
Community Foundation officials said Kieling has provided “a generous runway with which to find the right new leader” to continue and expand the Community Foundation’s legacy and contributions to the region. The Board of Trustees will begin the search for her successor, appointing a Transition Committee to oversee the leadership change.
