Vice Chair
C. Dennis Riggs
President and CEO The Community Foundation of Louisville, Inc.
Dennis Riggs is President Emeritus of The Community Foundation. He served as President and CEO from 1991 to 2008. Under his leadership, the Foundation’s asset base increased from $43 million to over $300 million. The Foundation granted over $27 million in fiscal year 2008
Mr. Riggs has been recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the community foundation field. He served two terms on the board of the national Council on Foundations, and two terms as national chair of the community foundation field. In 2005, he was one of five U.S. community foundation leaders appointed as a Fellow of the Transatlantic Community Foundation Fellowship, an exchange program created by a partnership of the King Baudouin Foundation of Belgium and the United States, and The German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Mr. Riggs received his B.A. degree from Bellarmine College in 1965. Over the last 44 years, he has served in several community leadership and nonprofit capacities, including: as Vice President of Bellarmine University, and as Vice President of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Long considered a leading philanthropic leader and fund development professional, Mr. Riggs is sought by organizations and professionals as a speaker and consultant on strategic planning, organizational development, fundraising and family philanthropic planning. He has provided leadership to numerous local nonprofit organizations, including: as a three-term chair of CARITAS Health Services; as president of the Rotary Club of Louisville, and as a board member of the Greater Louisville Sports Commission and the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy. In addition, Mr. Riggs was instrumental in the formation of the Louisville Donors Forum, an association of foundations and funders in the Louisville Metro area. He also served in private business as a partner in the executive search consulting firm of Fleming Associates, a precursor to TASA International.
Mr. Riggs is the immediate past Chair of the Greater Louisville Project, a coalition of private funders who have developed and are executing Louisville’s plan for community excellence beyond merger; as Vice Chair of the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living; and as Secretary of the National Foundation to Support Cell Transplant Research, and Leadership Kentucky.
Mr. Riggs is a retired member of the officiating staff of the National Football League (NFL) and currently serves the NFL as League Officiating Observer and Scout.
Mr. Riggs was recognized for his community leadership and service by receiving the 2007 Women 4 Women Heart of the Community Award. In 2006, he received the St. Francis Xavier Award from St. Xavier High School. He was also a recipient of the 1996 Louisville Community All-American Award and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Bellarmine University (1994).
He and his wife Kitty have been married for 44 years and have three adult children and eight grandchildren.
Effective: January 1, 2009