Eileen Ellsworth's Transformative Impact

In 2005 when Eileen Ellsworth assumed the role of President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, CFNOVA had awarded, since its 1978 founding, about $8.2M in grants and scholarships. As of 2023, we’ve awarded $92,463,995.

The timeline below is a great visualization of the growth of CFNOVA under Eileen's tenure:
Every year since 2005, and often more than once a year, under Eileen’s Leadership, the Community Foundation has launched new programs, convenings, and initiatives. In just the four years between 2016 and 2020, the Community Foundation launched our First Tuesdays dialogue with nonprofits, the Innovation Fund endowment, the Latino Engagement and Achievement Fund, the Environment Fund, the Community Wealth Building Initiatives, the Shape of the Region Conference, the Permanent Fund for Northern Virginia, the Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts, the Count the Region Initiative for the 2020 Census, Insight Region^®, and the COVID-19 Response Fund for Northern Virginia, which became Build Back Dream Forward.

Since 2005, the Community Foundation has raised more than $138 million in contributions from 10,845 donors. CFNOVA has funded 1,217 organizations, and given 1,451 scholarships to students. The groundswell of this impact amounts to hundreds of thousands of lives changed over those eighteen years. On December 5, 2023, at the Community Foundation’s annual holiday party, Paul Leslie, a former board member, said “Eileen’s vision was always bold and fearless. When she came in, she said that she wanted to transform the organization into an anchor institution that could help lead Northern Virginia. Eighteen years later, I believe she succeeded.”

To celebrate the growth and evolution of the organization over the past 18 years, consider donating to the Ellsworth Weil Fund for Northern Virginia, a component of the Permanent Fund.

View a photo gallery of the December 5 Holiday Party here.