About KACF: KACF Leadership
KACF Leadership
KACF is governed by a volunteer board and operated by an executive director and regional liaison groups.
Executive Director
Svetlana Pushkareva Hutfles 
Svetlana Pushkareva Hutfles was appointed Executive Director of KACF in 2009. She brings thirteen years of experience with the community foundation field to her position. Svetlana has been actively involved in developing community foundations worldwide and has served at the Transatlantic Community Foundations Network and Academy, the Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support, and the Global Fund for Community Foundations.
Svetlana is a Chevening Award scholar, a participant of the Community Foundation Fellowship of the U.S. German Marshall Fund, Charles Steward Mott and the King Baudouin Foundations, and an alumna of the Young Leadership Fellows for Public Service Program of the United States Agency for International Development. She has contributed to the study “Future of Community Foundation Network: A Transatlantic Perspective,” and to the book Beyond Money and Grantmaking: Leadership Roles of Community Foundations.
Svetlana holds a Bachelor's Degree from the International Academy of Business and Banking in Russia and a Master's Degree from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. She is a strategic thinker with experience in organizational development, multiple project management, partnership-building and a belief in community foundations as both a local and global mechanism for growing and sustaining healthy communities.
KACF Board Members
Chip Blaser 
Douglas County Community Foundation, Chairperson
Chip Blaser is the Executive Director of the Douglas County Community Foundation, based in Lawrence. Prior to starting that position in 2006, Chip was Vice President of Ballard Community Services, a human service agency located in Lawrence, and began his career as an attorney with the law firm of Barber Emerson. He has degrees in accounting and business, as well as a law degree, from KU. Chip is a graduate of Leadership Lawrence, a 2010 graduate of the Leadership Kansas program, and the chairman of the Kansas Association of Community Foundations.
Pam Moore
Legacy, a Regional Community Foundation, Secretary
Pam Moore is Executive Director of Legacy Regional Community Foundation. 
She has been actively involved in community development for a lifetime. As the planned giving coordinator at Southwestern College, Pam learned the nuts and bolts of fundraising and planned giving. When she signed on to raise $1.3 million dollars for a new mental health facility in Cowley County, the opportunity to work with people throughout the region proved to be a calling she adored.
In her job at Legacy Foundation, Pam works to connect donors with the causes they care about. She spends time with local nonprofit organizations, encouraging growth and sustainability planning. Pam strives to bring prosperity though philanthropy by encouraging regional cooperation as well as local initiative and by providing expert assistance to those who want to improve their own communities.
Betsy Wearing
Greater Salina Community Foundation
Betsy is the president and Executive Director of the Greater Salina Community Foundation. She directs the planning and operations, including fund and grant development, donor services, education and public relations. Established in 1999, GSCF has grown to more than $50 million in assets and has granted more than $20 million. It is home to more than 250 funds, a youth grant makers program, and eleven regional affiliates.
Ms. Wearing received her Bachelor of Arts in theatre and education from the former Marymount College in Salina, KS, and a Master of Arts in Communications from Wichita State University. Previously, she spent 15 years in health care marketing and community outreach. She and her husband Ben have three terrific sons.
Betsy has been on the KACF board since 2007. She has served on the marketing committee, conference planning committee, and GROW II committee.
Kristine Meyer
The Community Foundation of Dickinson County, Treasurer
Kristine Meyer has been president of the Community Foundation of Dickinson County, Abilene, Kansas since 2003. She oversees the organization’s day to day activities including, asset development, programs and operations.
Meyer has spent more than 19 years in the nonprofit sector. Meyer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Washburn University and studied abroad at Cambridge University, England.
Catherine Domsch
Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation
Catherine graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fort Hays State University. She was hired in 2004 as the first Executive Director of Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation. Along with her Board of Directors and Staff, Catherine has been actively involved in community and economic development for the Bird City community.
Catherine has represented the northwestern portion of Kansas since 2005 serving on the KACF Steering Committee, then becoming a Board Member in 2007 when KACF formalized.
Catherine and her husband have one daughter, Kierstyn, 8; and away from work she enjoys working and playing outdoors with her family & friends.
Brenda Chumley
Senior Vice President of Administration Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
Brenda Chumley is senior vice president of administration for the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. With more than 3,000 individual funds under its umbrella—ranging in size from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions of dollars—the Foundation helps its donors organize their generosity, offering tools and services for a better way to give. The Foundation values integrity, respect, passion for serving its donors, and innovation, recognizing that every gift, whether $25 or $25 million, makes a difference in the lives of others.
As senior vice president of administration, Brenda is responsible for leading the administrative functions of the Foundation with a particular focus on enterprise risk management and emerging markets. In this role, she works with the Board of Directors monitoring potential federal legislation and conducting outreach to local delegates. She is also responsible for the management of the Foundation's development work, in particular the work with corporations, as well as the data integrity, technology, customer service and facilities functions.
In 2008, Brenda was appointed executive director of Greater Horizons, a supporting organization of the Foundation, established to help donors across the entire Kansas City region connect with local and national charitable causes and encourage donors, no matter where they live, to reconnect with causes in their hometown.
Brenda has been on staff at the Foundation since 1993. Over the years she has worked with many donor funds, building the infrastructure and providing the support needed to help donors accomplish their charitable giving goals. Brenda developed the Foundation's first online grant making system before any such product was available to the field, created a product line to allow the Foundation's infrastructure (back office) to be available for rural communities in Kansas and Missouri, and created the in-house infrastructure and customer services system for the Giving Card product.
Brenda earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Ottawa University. She is a member of the Council on Foundations Leadership Team. She has also been a participant at the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Brenda and her husband Mike have two children, Garrett and Tara. She is actively involved with her family during her spare time and volunteers for numerous school activities. She serves on the board of the Basehor Linwood Education Foundation.
Shea Sinclair
Executive Director of the Western Kansas Community Foundation
Since July of 2008, Shea Sinclair has served as the Executive Director of the Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) in Garden City. Prior to this position Shea served for seven years as the Executive Director of the Garden City Community College Endowment Association; a not-for-profit agency dedicated to raising and growing funds for student scholarships for those attending GCCC.
The WKCF's mission to enrich western Kansas life through philanthropy, collaboration and leadership keeps Shea very busy. She works with her staff and board to connect engaged donors to the causes they care about and encourages donors to continue to support the communities and non-profit initiatives that have offered so much to enhance their lives and the lives of those around them. Currently, the WKCF is home to 109 funds with an asset size of over $16 million. The Foundation serves fifteen counties in the southwest corner of the state.
Shea holds a Bachelor's Degree from Kansas State University. She is an avid college football fan, loves sports and traveling with her husband Kent.
Bob Muirhead
Heartland Community Foundation
Bob is on the Board of Directors of the Heartland Community Foundation which was created in 2007 to serve Rooks, Trego and Ellis counties. Bob was one of the founding members. Prior to his involvement with the Heartland Community Foundation he was a member of the Thomas County Community Foundation board of directors in Colby. Muirhead is a graduate of Fort Hays State University with Bachelor degrees in Economics and History. He is also a 1992 graduate of Leadership Kansas.
Bob is an employee of Midwest Energy, Inc. and has been with the electric and natural gas cooperative for 25 years living in Scott City, Colby, Oakley, and currently in Hays Kansas. Bob is the Director of Economic and Community Development with Midwest Energy and oversees all of their donation programs including the Midwest Energy Community Fund which disburses over $100,000 annually to worthy causes in Midwest Energy’s service territory.
Bob and his wife Diane have four children Rebecca, Alex, Rachel, and Erin.
Pat Hamit
Community Foundation of Southwest Kansas
As the first Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Southwest Kansas, Pat Hamit is privileged to be part of the organizations growth in both assets as well as, the subsequent growth in grants that touch people’s lives and create change.
As graduate of Friends University and a native of Southwestern Kansas, Hamit worked with credit unions in rural Kansas for almost 20 years. Pat has been employed by the Community Foundation of Southwest Kansas since 2001.
Pat and his wife Karen live in Dodge City, Kansas and are the proud grandparents of 5 grandchildren.
Angela Muller
Russell County Area Community Foundation
Angela Muller, a native of the Russell area, is the Executive Director for the Russell County Area Community Foundation. She has a Bachelor's degree in economics from Kansas State University and a Master's degree in defense studies from the University of Reading in England. Her expertise includes professional experience with a number of federal and nonprofit agencies in Washington DC.
Her vision for the Foundation is "to support Russell County area nonprofits, organizations, and people in need, working to preserve our rural way of life. I love to work closely with donors to help them fulfill their charitable vision for our community. My relationship style is easygoing, and my door is always open to people interested in working with and contributing to the Community Foundation."
Sandra Fruit
Central Kansas Community Foundation
Sandra Fruit has more than twenty five years experience in non-profit management, planned giving, and marketing and public relations particularly in higher education, healthcare, and community foundations.
She has been involved in the start-up of numerous community foundations, serving both as executive director and founding board member. As a result she has an appreciation for the role of the volunteer board member, and insight into the training and expertise needed for boards to successfully navigate through the early years of an organization.
Currently the executive director of the Central Kansas Community Foundation she has overseen the successful merger of two regional community foundations, and transitioned Central Kansas Community Foundation into a “host foundation” now providing back office support and leadership to fifteen central Kansas affiliate foundations. Central Kansas Community Foundation was recently recognized as the “Outstanding Foundation of 2012” by the Wichita Chapter of Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the Wichita Business Journal.
Trained in charitable gift planning, Sandra has a track record of successfully closing multi-million dollar gifts in local, regional and national campaigns.
She has a personal interest in women and philanthropy issues, and is a frequent speaker on basic financial management and charitable estate planning for women. Her program, “Family, Life and Money” teaches women family values-based philanthropy.
Sandra is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning and currently serves as president of the Central Kansas Planned Giving Roundtable.
Committees
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Advocacy Committee
- Roger Viola - Committee Chair – Topeka Community Foundation
- Ryan Roberts – Scott Community Foundation
- Tom Fryer – Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
- Becky Goss – McPherson County Community Foundation
- Catherine Domsch – Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation
- Jerilyn Johnston – Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation
- Aubrey Abbott Patterson – Hutchinson Community Foundation
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The KACF Conference Committee
- Sandi Fruit – Chair – Central Kansas Community Foundation
- Christy Tustin – Co-Chair – Golden Belt Community Foundation
- Aubrey Abbott Patterson – Hutchinson Community Foundation
- Lonnie Stieben – Clearwater Community Foundation
- Janie DeVore Gillis – Coffeyville Area Community Foundation
- Troy R Unruh – Western Kansas Community Foundation
- Sharon Long – McPherson County Community Foundation
- Cathy White – Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas
- Vern Henricks - Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
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GROW II Committee
- Chip Blaser – Chair – Douglas County Community Foundation
- Aubrey Abbott-Patterson – Hutchinson Community Foundation
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Marketing Committee
- Betsy Wearing – Chair – Greater Salina Community Foundation
- Brenda Chumley – Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
- Lori Huber – Washington County Community Foundation
- Ann Allen – Parsons Area Community Foundation
- Catherine Domsch – Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation
- Aubrey Abbott-Patterson – Hutchinson Community Foundation
- Shea Sinclair - Western Kansas Community Foundation
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Sustainability Committee
- Becky Goss – Chair – McPherson Community Foundation
- Ryan Roberts – Scott Community Foundation
- Aubrey Patterson – Hutchinson Community Foundation
- Brenda Chumley – Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
- Janie DeVore Gillis – Coffeyville Area Community Foundation
- Chip Blaser – Douglas County Community Foundation
Liasons
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Western Kansas
- Ryan Roberts – liaison – Scott Community Foundation
- Melinda Olson – co-liaison – Thomas County Community Foundation
- Catherine Domsch – co-liaison – Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation
- Ryan Roberts
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South Central and South East Kansas
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- Angie Baur – liaison – Central Kansas Community Foundation – Butler County
- Theresa Hearn – co-liaison – Derby Community Foundation
- Janie DeVore-Gillis – co-liaison – Coffeyville Area Community Foundation
- Angie Baur
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North Central and North East Kansas
- To be announced.
