ERIE – 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 Batchelor’s retirement announcement, The Erie Community Foundation named Susannah Weis Frigon, current VP Philanthropic Services, as interim president. She will have full responsibility for management of the Foundation until the search for Batchelor’s successor is complete.
Prior to joining the Foundation in 2013, Weis Frigon spent 24 years in the financial services industry, holding senior leadership positions in Chicago, Rochester, New York, 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, Batchelor will be the president of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Foundations, a new membership-based organization of 31 community foundations in the state.
The Erie Community Foundation, 459 West 6th Street, works to improve the quality of life in our region by evaluating and addressing community issues, by promoting responsible philanthropy and by connecting donors to the critical needs of the community. To learn more, visit www.ErieCommunityFoundation.org.
