This fall, we convened a pilot committee at Foellinger Foundation—the Barbara Burt Innovative Leader Fund (BBILF) Committee.

The Barbara Burt Innovative Leader Fund was established in 2008 in honor of Mrs. Burt’s retirement. She led the Foellinger Foundation as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 2001. From 2001 to 2008, she served as Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The BBILF later became a part of the Helene Foellinger Leadership Development Initiative, with the Foundation granting additional resources to the fund.  This fund supports nonprofit board members who are pursuing unique learning experiences, encourages innovative thinking to develop “adaptive leadership” skills and promotes exchanges about leadership styles and practices within nonprofit organizations.

Board members may apply to attend conferences, workshops, webinars or other events—traditional or nontraditional—that specifically benefit their organizations. Additionally, the fund creates opportunities for various leadership seminars to be held in our community.

This committee will identify topics and speakers for the BBILF trainings and will also promote the opportunities of the fund, thus allowing for more individual training opportunities for board members. They will also be attending the 2020 BoardSource Leadership Forum in May to learn about the newest thinking and best practices in nonprofit governance and leadership.

The 2020-2021 Barbara Burt Innovative Leader Fund Committee is comprised of the following members, many of whom serve on various boards in our community and/or have attended BBILF trainings:

• Sarah Strimmenos, Committee Chair  

• Cory Dietz

• Angie Logan

• Kathy Roudebush

• Matthew Smith

• Lorenzo Suter

• Cheryl Taylor

• Pone Vongphachanh

The Foundation looks forward to the work of this committee as we continue to Invest in Excellence and support, strengthen and inspire nonprofit leadership.