In 1994, Tana S. Odean became the Community Foundation’s first President/CEO. Under Tana’s leadership, the Foundation grew from one fund and $1.2 million in assets to 139 funds and $20 million in assets.

Tana is a well-known, respected member of the Quad-City community who has supported a number of initiatives to strengthen community foundations in Iowa and Illinois. She played an integral role in the formation of the Iowa Council of Foundations and was a participating member of the Illinois Alliance for Community Foundations. Tana led the Community Foundation through the process of meeting National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations. Because of her motivation to meet these standards, the Community Foundation was one of the first five community foundations in the nation to receive this designation.

On October 1, 2006, Tana retired from the Community Foundation to pursue other avenues of her life.

“At this time I want to un-clutter my life and allow for new experiences and opportunities,” said Tana. “I want to explore life with my family and friends in a new way.”

Tana’s decision to retire began in 2001. After she made a series of observations and realized she could not do some of the things important to her, Tana started preparing the Community Foundation for her retirement.

Preparing the Foundation for the future was always important to Tana. Her first project was to develop policies and create procedure manuals to be used as learning tools for new board and staff members. She then supported the idea of an external audit and was instrumental in developing a comprehensive strategic plan. Tana also played a major role in making sure the Community Foundation was doing everything that needed to be done, and that it was done correctly.

For most of her adult life, Tana has been very busy raising her family, going to school and working. Retiring from the Foundation will allow Tana to spend more time with her husband, three children and grandchildren. She plans to explore the leisure life at the family’s lake house, travel with her husband, or do something spur of the moment.

In honor of Tana’s 12 years of dedication and service to the Community Foundation, the Board of Directors established the Tana S. Odean Endowment Fund. This fund will annually distribute support to the Community Foundation.