ROCHELLE – After 12 years leading the Rochelle Area Community Foundation as executive director, Kim Montgomery has announced her intent to retire effective June 1, 2021. 

Montgomery was hired as the first paid executive director for the foundation in September of 2009 following Ann Rice who served as the first executive director as a volunteer. 

Established in 2005 by Leonard Carmichael and a group of local community leaders, the Rochelle Area Community Foundation serves the community by offering a simple way for all people to make a positive impact on the community through charitable giving. Gifts entrusted to the foundation are carefully invested for long term growth, with a portion of the earnings providing grants to qualified nonprofit organizations at least annually. 

The foundation has grown considerably over the past 15 years. Montgomery started as a part time employee working from home. Today, the foundation occupies a dedicated office space thanks to the generosity of Central Bank in Rochelle and manages assets of $4 million in permanently endowed funds. The foundation expects to distribute $100,000 in grants this year alone. 

In 2015, the RACF stood in the gap for those who were directly affected by the April tornados, accepting charitable contributions from near and far and then established and managed the process of fair and equitable distribution of more than $500,000 over two years. In 2020, the foundation leveraged $100,000 in funding to support the nonprofit community in assisting people affected by COVID-19, in addition to distributing another $70,000 in COVID grant funds. 

“It has been my absolute pleasure to have had the opportunity to serve the community in this way,” Montgomery said. “My family came to Rochelle in 1969 when my dad and his business partner brought us here from Peoria and I returned after college to raise my family here, but our children and grandchildren live in Wisconsin and I’m looking forward to having more time to spend with them in my retirement. I’ve often said that I have the best job in town, so it will be an amazing opportunity for whoever the board selects to lead the organization into the future.” 

“The Board of Directors is very proud of the work that Kim has done for the foundation and her leadership throughout the Rochelle area community. We wish her well in retirement and will ensure a smooth transition to a new executive director,” Foundation Board President Trisha Vaughn said. 

Inquiries about the position can be directed to racfsearch@gmail.com.