Ingrid Whitley, a Park City resident for the last three years, was selected from a long list of applicants for the position that became available when the former CEO, Abby McNulty, resigned last June.
Whitley brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record to Park City. She says she wasn’t looking for a new job, but the opportunity to work in her community and make a difference in public education was intriguing.
“I started my career at Teach for America in the classroom as a public school educator. And then I worked in the nonprofit education space for many years after that at Teach for America before I did some fundraising consulting work with schools,” she said. “So, I've always been in the education sphere. But I missed being in public education. So. I'm so excited to be at the Park City Education Foundation, making an impact in the community I live in, and I've lived in for the last, you know, three and a half years or so.”
Whitley has served as a consultant for CCS Fundraising, working for nonprofit clients managing multimillion dollar philanthropic campaigns. She also served for two years as the associate director of advancement for the Waterford School in Salt Lake.
Under the leadership of McNulty, the education foundation has prioritized eight initiatives from preschool and afterschool care to helping first-generation students get a college degree. Whitley says with less than a month on the job, she’s still learning the ropes…
“The team, the board, the former leader, Abby McNulty, all have just done an amazing job growing the skill of the organization and the impact that they've been able to have,” she said. “And so, before I start, you know, bringing in tons of new ideas, I really want to understand what's been going on and meet as many people as I can, hear what our supporters and our staff are hopeful for as they look at the future, and then we'll start to formulate some new ideas, but certainly I have some circulating right now.”
Her primary role will be to raise money to support the foundation’s initiatives.
“That's really important and something that we're constantly thinking about,” she said. “So, hopefully I'll bring that to the table with my experience and fundraising consulting and I think there's a lot of opportunity there. But again, the work that's been going on has been incredible. And I want to just make sure that continues and grow our supporters.”
According to the foundation’s vice president of advancement Jen Billow, Whitley was one of 160 applicants for the position. And save the date, early registration for this year’s Running with Ed which raises more than $300,000 for the foundation, starts March 1.
