In the wake of the tremendous 20-year legacy left by former Greater Toledo Community Foundation president and CEO Keith Burwell, a search committee has selected Kate Sommerfeld to take the reins and continue where Mr. Burwell left off serving Toledo and the surrounding areas.
A native Toledoan, Ms. Sommerfeld has experience working with the United Way and spent more than eight years at ProMedica, where she was first the corporate director for the Social Determinants of Health Institute and then president of the institute.
The institute was the first health system-based organization focused on creating social and economic opportunity, and Ms. Sommerfeld spearheaded initiatives focused on corporate giving, community investment, and board service for nonprofits — all to improve the health of the community.
She spent the last year as a national adviser for Social Impact Consulting Solutions, where she supported organizations, philanthropic institutions, and communities to find solutions to local issues.
She has been named to Modern Health’s Top 25 Emerging Leaders of 2020, Toledo’s 2018 20 Under 40, and Becker’s 2018 Healthcare Rising Stars: 90 healthcare leaders under 40.
“I'm excited to work with stakeholders and work with our team here internally, but really to bring folks together, figure out what are the key issues in Toledo, and then figure out how we raise the resources and get them done,” Ms. Sommerfeld said.
In her new role, Ms. Sommerfeld hopes to both continue and expand the legacy Mr. Burwell left behind.
“There's an incredible legacy and certainly big shoes to fill as I'm coming into this role, and I want to continue the legacy,” she said. “But I think for me, it's really a partnership, a really deep partnership and listening to our partners, our donors, and the community in a really authentic way. So partnership, deep listening, and really engaging with lots of different folks are my goals.”
The search committee, chaired by board member Hussien Shousher, was comprised of nine members, all either currently or formerly on the board. The committee spoke with locals to determine the most pressing needs of the community and also surveyed people on the sort of leader the area needs. Using this information, they built a profile of the type of leader they wanted and sent out local and national calls for the president and CEO position.
“I'm happy to say that we have great confidence in Kate and really liked her passion and vision of the future. I feel like she's going to do a tremendous job leading and growing the organization,” Mr. Shousher said.
Mr. Shousher also noted that multiple members of the search committee who had never met Ms. Sommerfeld could immediately tell that this position was her “dream job,” which he said was one of the most impressive qualities of Ms. Sommerfeld’s.
“As a community, we're incredibly generous. I've had the opportunity to work in other communities, and there's something unique about Toledo,” Ms. Sommerfeld said. “We're large enough where we have resources, but we're also small enough that we're connected, and when we lock arms to get things done, we do. So that's a really unique space, again, large enough from a market profile but small enough that we can get things done.”
“I think that's an incredible opportunity for us” at the foundation, she added.
The foundation has funds from more than 1,000 donating entities at its expense, with certain relationships extending as far back as 1973, when the foundation began its operations. It has paid $11,335,624 year to date in grants and scholarships to the Toledo region.
“I see a little bit of a transition here, where I think we're going to be in a position now to collaborate in the community and bring the community together to do some big, big project. I don't know exactly what it is yet, but Kate's going to be right at the helm doing that,” board Chairman Michael Gibbons said. “I think you're going to see some great things happening.”
Ms. Sommerfeld said she is both humbled and grateful for the opportunity to lead the foundation.
“The organization has a really long history of having great work and impact. The staff's amazing, the board's amazing. There are a number of committees and partners, and I’m just so humbled, grateful, and also ready to get going,” she said.
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