Central Minnesota Community Foundation Executive Director to Retire

(KNSI) – The woman at the helm of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation says she is heading for retirement.

Caryl Turnow has led the CMCF for the last five years, coming here from the Northwest Minnesota Foundation. Turnow says working in the community foundation world for the last 25 years has been her calling and a “dream job,” allowing her to “listen to a donor’s passion and connect that passion with needs in their community, helping to make a positive difference for all.”

While Turnow was with CMCF, overall assets have increased from $78.8 million to $134.7 million. She also created the Central Minnesota Difference Maker Grant. Rather than making several small grants to entities within the community, CMCF started the Difference Maker Grant under Turnow’s leadership, which provided a competitive grant round for larger inclusive projects in the community.

2020 was a challenging year for many nonprofits around the area, and under Turnow’s leadership, the CMCF created the Response and Recovery Fund.

Turnow says she fell in love with this area and will be sticking around to find new ways of helping the community. She is looking forward to spending time with family and traveling.

Turnow’s last day is June 30th.