meet the president...

Karen A. Simmons

President/CEO Chester County Community Foundation

Biography

As President/CEO of the Chester County Community Foundation, Ms. Karen A. Simmons focuses on increasing legacy philanthropy throughout Chester County.  The Community Foundation leads, inspires and encourages all individuals and organizations to create or contribute to lasting philanthropic charitable legacies, to improve the quality of life primarily in Chester County.

Within the next several years, the Chester County Community Foundation aims to hold in trust $50 million in invested assets.  This will enable the Community Foundation to annually award $2.5 million in grants, primarily to Chester County nonprofits, to address Chester County’s major community needs.  

Ms. Simmons joined the Chester County Community Foundation in August 2001 after 15 years of service as Executive Director of LaSalle’s Nonprofit Center in Philadelphia.  At the Nonprofit Center, Ms. Simmons orchestrated capacity building programs serving over 8,500 small to mid-sized nonprofits in the Greater Philadelphia region.  In addition to her managerial, fiscal, programmatic and resource development responsibilities, Ms. Simmons provided training and consulting to Philadelphia nonprofits in the areas of strategic planning, resource development, board development, and impact evaluation.  In 1998, Ms. Simmons was recognized as one of fifty of the nonprofit sector’s most influential leaders by the Nonprofit Times.

Ms. Simmons received her BS from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and her M. Ed. From Temple University in Philadelphia.  She resides in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Karen A. Simmons
Chester County Community Foundation
28 West Market Street
West Chester, PA 19382