Boone named new director of COCC Foundation

Zachary J. Boone has been hired as the new executive director of the Central Oregon Community College Foundation. He replaces Jim Weaver, who is retiring June 30 after serving in the position since 2002.

“We are excited to have Zak joining the Foundation team,” said Jeff Stuermer, chair of the COCC Foundation Board. “With Zak’s experience and skills, we are confident that the College and Foundation will continue to help students succeed and contribute to making our community better.”

For the last four years, Boone has served as the associate director of the Deschutes Land Trust, a Bend-based land conservation organization. During his tenure, the trust restructured their major donor cultivation and stewardship program, implemented a new planned giving initiative, increased their unrestricted revenue each fiscal year and created a myriad of public engagement activities to better serve the community.

“I’m both excited and humbled to have been selected to lead the COCC Foundation and its ambitious goals,” said Boone. “The COCC Foundation has a storied history of serving our community as a champion of education, and I look forward to creating continued opportunities for all students at the College to succeed through the Foundation’s philanthropic endeavors.”

“With the retirement of Jim Weaver, we all were considering the size of the task of filling those shoes,” said Matthew McCoy, COCC vice president for administration. “In hiring Zak Boone as the Foundation’s next executive director, we have great confidence that the legacy of student success through Foundation and College support will continue.”

“Having run a community nonprofit for 20 years, I’ve met some extraordinary people,” said Land Trust Executive Director Brad Chalfant. “Zak Boone is truly one of those individuals. He’s brought great talent and many skills to the Deschutes Land Trust, and while I hate to lose him, I’m thrilled that he’ll continue to further philanthropy with our community partner, Central Oregon Community College.”

Prior to his time with the land trust, Boone served as executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Oregon, leading the organization through the establishment of its first endowment, creation of its first major donor giving program, a large-scale capital project and an internal reorganization.

Boone earned his bachelor’s degree in international affairs at Lewis and Clark College in Portland and his master’s degree in public administration/nonprofit management from Portland State University.

The COCC Foundation exists exclusively for the benefit of Central Oregon Community College, its faculty and students in the furtherance of the educational and charitable activities of the College. It does so through providing financial assistance to students, fiscal support for college programs, and running campaigns in support of needed college capital improvements. Established in 1955, the Foundation now has an endowment of more than $17 million. In fiscal year 2014-2015, the Foundation provided more than $1 million in scholarships and program support to COCC.