Charleen Davidson is the new executive director of the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.
Charleen Davidson is the new executive director of the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.
The Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta has a new executive director with experience rooted in community service, history, culture and heritage to start its next 50 years of operation.
The foundation’s board recently approved the appointment of Charleen Davidson, a Lethbridge resident and experienced not-for profit sector manager, as its fourth executive director.
Davidson follows George Hall, who will retire at the end of April after leading the Community Foundation as executive director for nine years.
Davidson joins the organization from the Alberta Museums Association, where she was the operations lead and the project manager for the museum flood funding program.
A 12-year resident of Lethbridge, Davidson has also worked extensively in the not-for profit sector in the community.
Davidson was executive director of the Lethbridge HIV Connection Society and in a volunteer role as a city-appointed member of the Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives Board of Directors, among other community service interests.
“Charleen brings extensive community service experience to our organization, and we were impressed with her passion and interest in giving back to the community,” foundation president Dennis Hatt said.
“She is also familiar with the work of the community foundation as a grant recipient, and in her role at the Museums Association was managing a number of complex grant distribution programs and other projects, so understands the administrative needs of our organization as well. We look forward to working with her.”
Davidson is a University of Lethbridge graduate and holds a masters degree in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto (2008).
Davidson’s passion for history and archaeology has taken her world-wide, from nearby Taber to Israel and across Canada.
Her previous work experiences beyond the academic and not-for-profit sectors involve working in the criminal justice profession as an administrator for the British Columbia government in pre-trial and victim services offices.
“George and the board have worked very hard to position the Foundation for its next 50 years of success,” Davidson said.
“They are doing great work by supporting organizations in our region who, in turn, support positive community development that ultimately improves people’s lives in many ways. I’m incredibly excited to be working with and for the foundation’s volunteers and staff, and look forward to meeting and working with all our grant applicants and recipients.”
