A long-time financial expert for a variety of university foundations, Shea McGrew has been named the executive director of the Ottawa County Community Foundation (OCCF).

“We are excited to announce this new position for the foundation,” said President Jan Preston of the OCCF Board of Directors. “Shea is the ideal candidate to serve in this important leadership role. We look forward to the contributions he will make offering his skills, experience and management style to help this organization grow.”

Preston said the OCCF is fortunate to have someone with McGrew’s background at the helm to contribute to the overall growth of the foundation.

McGrew will report to the OCCF Board of Directors, which in July 2020 suffered the loss off its long-time president and founder, Joy Roth. In the interim, Nancy Heller served as interim director while helping OCCF formulate a search for the best long-term candidate.

Roth will be remembered at the OCCF’s 2021 Grant Awards Presentations on Thursday June 17, when more than $52,000 will be shared with Ottawa County non-profit organizations and scholarship recipients. There will also be the presentation of the Joy Roth Little Tiger Award.

Since its beginning in 1999, OCCF has distributed more than $6 million in grants and scholarships, and has assets of $11.2 million.

McGrew has held positions with a variety of colleges and universities over 37 years, most recently as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Muskingum University, where he led a $30 million campaign for the Muskingum’s Henry D. Bullock Health and Wellness Complex, the largest capital project in its history. The complex will dramatically expand and enhance facilities to support academic programs, athletics, recreation and well-being.

“Fundraising and alumni relations have been a focus, and some of the public universities I’ve served have foundations,” said McGrew. “I’ll be working part-time for OCCF, allowing me to apply my skills and experience in a slightly different sector,” he said.

McGrew said he was attracted to the OCCF because of its dedicated people and the amount of generosity and commitment they have to the betterment of Ottawa County.

“The OCCF is dedicated to economic development, social services and education, and there is tremendous spirit here. Ottawa County is a small but mighty county,” he said.

McGrew will also be a lay minister for a Lutheran Church in Northwest Ohio.

He said he was impressed with the OCCF board, and how it adjusted after President Joy Roth had died.

“She was such a large part of the OCCF that board members had to roll up their sleeves and learn how everything worked,” said McGrew. “I’ve also been meeting with many of the county leaders, like Chris Singerling of the Ottawa County Improvement Corporation, and various elected officials, because I want OCCF to be an even bigger player in Ottawa County. The only way to do that is to increase the level of assets, and that doesn’t happen immediately.

“My goal is to reach out regularly to donors, prospective donors and the community to build relationships of trust and to ‘tell the story’ of the OCCF,” he said. “I look forward to working with the OCCF’s dynamic board and to furthering the mission of creating a better community for years to come.”