Foundation leader Angelica Light to retire this year

By Philip Walzer
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 17, 2011

NORFOLK

The longtime leader of one of the region's largest philanthropic organizations will retire at the end of the year.

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation announced Thursday that Angelica Light, its chief since 1999, will be leaving.

"I've done the work that I could best do for the foundation," Light, the organization's president and CEO, said Thursday.

Paul Hirschbiel, a Virginia Beach philanthropist who is treasurer of the foundation's board, said Light has led "the transformation of the foundation from a conservative, reactive organization to what I believe today is a proactive organization that's seeking out and addressing with its resources the issues that are facing our community. Angelica has been a blessing to our organization."

Light, 62, highlighted among her achievements the foundation's increased focus on early childhood education and its 2009 emergency-grant program, which awarded more than $1 million to social-service agencies struggling during the recession.

She also said the foundation has boosted training for nonprofit employees, with the creation of the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence in 2004.

The Norfolk-based foundation has assets totaling nearly $245 million, more than double the amount when she began. It awarded more than $12 million in grants and scholarships last year.

The organization was known as the Norfolk Foundation before its merger last year with The Virginia Beach Foundation.

"The key to the success of this organization is the strong professional staff," Light said. "We have wonderful investment management and a great communications strategy."

Her replacement, she said, "can become a true community leader, convening the various segments of this region to address some challenges that we and others have identified."

Light said she would depart by the end of the year. The exact date, she said, depends on the timetable of her successor. The foundation has hired Kittleman & Associates, a Chicago search firm, to help conduct a national search.

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com

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Retirement at HR Community Fdn

Submitted by geraldc32357 on Sat, 06/18/2011 at 11:37 am.

Angelica Light has brought intelligence and dignity to the leadership of Hampton Roads Community Foundation— an entity that this area of the state has needed for many years. HRCF has taken the philanthropic traditions of old Norfolk and has spread them to new Virginia Beach. It remains now for emerging Va. Beach capitalists to provide assets similar to those of Norfolk Foundation, and lay the groundwork for the new entity and its philanthropic challenges.
One writer has suggested that there's an untold "back-story" here, and that perhaps Mrs. Light is being eased out, rather than simply completing a 12-year productive career and moving on to "pursuits of her own choosing." We'll depend on The Pilot to keep us posted and to KTBBH.

change afoot

Submitted by beach23451 on Fri, 06/17/2011 at 7:43 am.

There must be some changes going on with this organization. It would be nice to hear what is really going on with this big organization. It sounds like there is some differences going on at the decision making levels of this organization. Is retiremant code for fired by the Board of Directors?