Since moving to Columbia in 1979 as an attorney with the Rouse Company, Beverly White-Seals has had a heart for serving her community.

Since then, she has served as counsel with Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz P.C., assistant general counsel for General Growth Properties and director of workforce diversity at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Health System. She worked on more than 20 nonprofit boards across the region and has spent her career balancing her professional expertise with her passion for the arts and community service.

Now, after 13 years of dedicated service as CEO and president of the Community Foundation of Howard County, White-Seals will be retiring later this year.

During her time at the foundation, White-Seals oversaw record-breaking fundraising efforts and expanded its impact throughout the community, according to CFHoCo. Under her leadership, the foundation distributed more than $28 million in grants to nonprofits and established initiatives to address key issues facing the county.

Last year, the foundation funded nearly $2.2 million in grants and scholarships.

White-Seals said she is most proud of the relationships she has built with donors during her time at the foundation, including Greg and Roberta Kahlert of The Kahlert Foundation, which awarded nearly $22 million in grants, with $14,416,428 directed to nonprofits in Maryland and $4.3 million in the county last year, according to CFHoCo.

“One of the things that I have done is make outreach to donors personal,” she said. “If there’s a need, I actually call donors or go to lunch with them and let them know what the need is and what it is that they can do to help address that need.”

Dan Flynn, director of development, marketing and communications at CFHoCo said he has learned from White-Seals’ vast knowledge of the county.

“A lot of people who live in Howard County see it as a very wealthy, really well-educated community, but like anywhere else, it has great need,” he said. “[White-Seals] has been really good at telling that story and putting it in ways that people can understand.”

White-Seals said she looks forward to spending time with her grandchildren and traveling to Switzerland during her retirement.

She said she hopes the foundation will grow financially and embrace the community’s diversity in the future.

“[My wish] is for people to reach out to the increasing diversity in our community and take on responsibility for welcoming our newcomers,” she said. “Like most immigrant groups that come in, you stick to people who eat what you eat and speak the language you speak, but we can ease that experience by taking the step to reach out to our neighbors.”

CFHoCo’s board of trustees is in the process of looking for a successor, however, White-Seals will remain on staff until a replacement is hired, according to CFHoCo.

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