Editor’s Note: the following letter was sent from the Erie Community Foundation to constituents on Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Mike Batchelor, president of The Erie Community Foundation, extended his December 2020 retirement due to the president search pausing for COVID-19. After extending his planned retirement, Batchelor gave notice that he wanted to retire as of July 1, 2021. “We anticipate completing the search for Mike’s successor prior to calendar year-end,” said Dr. Don Baxter, Board Chair of The Erie Community Foundation. “Currently we have a strong candidate pool and believe we can find talent to move the Foundation forward and continue the good work already established.”
In the wake of Mike’s retirement announcement, The Erie Community Foundation named Susannah Weis Frigon, current VP Philanthropic Services, as interim president. Susannah will have full responsibility for management of the Foundation until the search for Mike’s successor is complete.
Prior to joining the Foundation in 2013, Susannah spent 24 years in the financial services industry, holding senior leadership positions in Chicago, Rochester NY, and Pittsburgh. Her volunteer experience includes director and committee roles for various nonprofits, among them the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Adopt an Artist, and The Multicultural Community Resource Center. She is a Certified Financial Planner® and a current member of The Estate Planning Council of Erie, The Carrie T. Watson Garden Club, and the Erie Rotary Club. She is also an Executive Committee member of the national Board of The Advancement Network (“AdNet”), a resource organization for community foundation professionals.
Effective July 1, Mike Batchelor will be the President of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Foundations, a new membership-based organization of 31 community foundations in the state.
