Dietz Named KCF Director

The Kentlands Community Foundation (KCF) has named Kentlands resident Carrie Dietz as its newest director.

Dietz replaces Bridget Ryder, who served in the post for seven years. Ryder resigned last month to take a new job.

“The Foundation is all about ‘facilitating community’ and Carrie’s commitment to community service mixed with her organizational, writing and leadership skills proved to be the perfect blend for us,” said John Schlichting, KCF Chair.

According to Schlichting, over 32 people applied for the job shortly after it was advertised last month. He said the KCF board narrowed the search down to ten qualified candidates, all of whom were interviewed on the phone.

“From the ten, we chose five extraordinary finalists, all of whom could have done a great job for us,” said Schlichting. “We spent the holiday weekend debating the decision and ultimately came to a vote at a full board meeting on Monday night at my home.”

“I am absolutely thrilled to join the foundation as director and believe the job will be a very rewarding new challenge for me,” Dietz said.

The director works alongside the Foundation’s board of directors and committee chairs to provide the administrative framework and management support for all foundation-sponsored programs and events such as the Kentlands/Lakelands 5K.

“The Foundation is always looking for new ideas as well as ways to improve on its existing programs. An area I would like to see expanded is educational outreach on new urbanism,” Dietz said.

Dietz may be a familiar name to Town Courier readers as she is employed by the paper as the editor of the Urbana issue and serves as a reporter and columnist in Gaithersburg. She is resigning from the Courier to take the KCF job but may continue writing for the paper as an occasional columnist.

“My many years with The Town Courier has made me appreciate all the Kentlands and Gaithersburg has to offer,” Dietz said. “I will use that insight in my new role serving the community through the KCF. On the flip side, I will greatly miss working with my wonderful colleagues at The Town Courier.”

For more information about the KCF, visit www.kentlands.org.