Community Foundation of Richmond

Overview

Founded in 1968, the Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia channels collective giving into a permanent endowment for the region. It was built by local families and corporate leaders, including early influence from figures like retired Dominion Resources CFO Tom Chewning and Markel Group CEO Thomas S. Gayner, who served as board chair. Today it administers donor-advised funds, scholarship programs, and a perpetual unrestricted pool. The investment strategy spans public equities, fixed income, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate. The foundation's committee, chaired by Krissy Gathright — retired COO of Apple Hospitality REIT — oversees allocation decisions. A notable structural feature is the endowment management partnership with Spider Management Company, the investment office of the University of Richmond, which runs a portion of the foundation's assets alongside the university's own $3 billion-plus endowment. The foundation also directly holds commercial real estate, including its headquarters at 7501 Boulders View Drive. Beyond the Spider relationship, the foundation operates several affiliated geographic funds including the River Counties Community Foundation and the Gloucester Community Foundation, extending its reach across Central Virginia. Sherrie Armstrong joined in 2015 after leading United Way of Greater Richmond; her board includes Keith Middleton of Fahrenheit Advisors and Jayme Swain of VPM. The foundation is a Regional Leadership Circle member of ChamberRVA, and Sherrie Armstrong serves on the board of Venture Richmond, anchoring the organization's civic footprint. Structurally, the foundation functions as a hybrid: a community foundation with a large pooled endowment managed in part by an external OCIO model under the Spider arrangement. This gives it institutional-grade portfolio construction rare for community foundations of its size, with access to alternative asset classes typically reserved for university endowments. Governance sits with a local board, keeping deployment tethered to regional priorities rather than a centralized investment committee in a distant city.