Our Commitment to Athens County

Shayne Lopez • April 26, 2024

At Athens County Foundation, we are committed to seeing the strengths of Athens County become even stronger. We are dedicating our programming, investments, and resources to fueling change. We recently launched Project Co-Create , a strategic effort to scale participatory change making throughout the county. We believe that everyone has something to contribute, so our goal is to open the pathways to greater collaboration and spark engagement within the county. We’re committed. We’ll give it everything we have. But we cannot do this work alone. 

We know that people and organizations are also deeply committed to Athens County. To helps us all continue to act on our commitment, we are sharpening the focus what the Commitment to Athens County can look like. Doing one of these things or all of these things will make a difference.

Let us know how you will continue your Commitment to Athens County. We want to hear from you! Please sign up to stay connected and follow us on social media . Together, and with shared commitment, we can Advance Athens County.

project co-create logo

Join us in committing to Athens County:

Be a builder Actively Engage in community conversations and projects
Be an ambassador Represent the spirit of collaboration and inclusion everywhere you go
Be a champion Give the work a greater chance for success by securing and investing resources
Be an innovator Think big and be part of the solution
Be a connector Identify and invite in the strengths and perspectives that surround you
By Emily Prince September 1, 2026
Please join us in welcoming our new Director of Finance and Administration, Stacy Strauss. Stacy looks forward to using her skills to strengthen our community! She brings energy, creativity, and a thoughtful approach to her work, along with a genuine ability to bring people together around shared goals. Her experience spans financial management, fundraising and grant writing, program development, business strategy, and developing materials that tell a clear, compelling story.  Just as importantly, she enjoys helping others grow. She has experience leading and training teams, building collaborative cultures, developing recruitment strategies, and finding practical, creative solutions to complicated challenges. Whether working with colleagues, community partners, or other stakeholders, she builds relationships rooted in trust, communication, and a shared commitment to advancing good ideas.
By Shayne Lopez August 28, 2026
Athens County's greatest asset is its people. Every day, neighbors, organizations, and local leaders bring skill, creativity, and deep knowledge of this place to the work of building a stronger community. Our grantmaking invests in those strengths, because the best solutions are already growing here, led by the people who call Athens County home. Our grantmaking builds on the strengths already here by investing in the initiatives, people and organizations, relationships, skills, and ideas working to address longstanding challenges and pursue extraordinary opportunities. 
By Emily Prince August 12, 2026
Collaboration and Partnership