About Us

The Lenawee Community Foundation is unique among Lenawee County nonprofits in our community. We focus on enhancing the health, happiness and hope of our citizens through permanent endowments that address current and anticipated community needs and raising, managing, and distributing the funds for those purposes.

We Work for the Future of our Community

Although we provide funds to address current community needs, most of our funds are permanently invested with a portion of the earnings utilized for charitable causes. Thus, you can think of us as a community “savings account” with our major focus on Lenawee’s anticipated needs.

The Causes We Support are Diverse

We’re the only nonprofit in Lenawee that works in five areas – health, civic, culture, education, and human services. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, approved by the Internal Revenue Service for federal deductions for gifts.

We Perform a Variety of Functions

While our main focus is to manage investor assets and distribute funds in the community, we also provide a variety of other programs.

  • Lenawee Cares Campaign – An annual fundraising campaign that distributes grants to local nonprofits each spring.
  • Nonprofits Workshops – Training and educational opportunities for nonprofits and board of directors.
  • Imagination Library – Distribution of books to youth in the community through partnerships with local libraries.

Our Team

Bronna Kahle, President & CEO

Paula Trentman, Vice President & Director of Grants & Programs

Deb Salenbien, Office Manager

Laura Lilly, Executive Coordinator

Kirsten Stiver, Communication & Engagement Manager

Board of Directors

Dave Hickman, Chair
Scott Hill, Vice Chair
Doug Gray, Secretary
Jim Kapnick, Treasurer
Merri Jo Bales
Zell Eisenmann

Pat Gilpin
Julie Goll
Chuck Gross
Rick Gurdjian
Dave Herriman
Paula Holtz

Allison Marks
Zoe Ostermyer
Kris Schmidt
Bob Vogel