Hampton Roads Community Foundation Names New President and CEO

Dr. Deborah M. DiCroce, president of Tidewater Community College, has been named president and chief executive officer of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation — southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider.

Dr. DiCroce of Chesapeake was selected from more than 100 applicants during a nationwide search conducted by the foundation’s board and Kittleman & Associates of Chicago, which specializes in nonprofit executive searches. She will assume her new position on March 1. The Foundation’s current president and CEO, Angelica D. Light, will retire in March after more than 12 years at the helm of the Foundation.

“Debbie DiCroce has the experience and skills in working regionally that match our board’s vision of taking the foundation to the next level,” says Harry T. Lester, chair of the foundation’s board. “One of the most important qualities she possesses is passion.”

Dr. DiCroce has led Tidewater Community College since 1998 and previously headed Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville. Under her leadership, TCC has experienced 13 years of record enrollment growth and expansions in programs and facilities at its four Hampton Roads campuses. It is the largest provider of undergraduate education in Hampton Roads with more than 46,000 students, and enrollment has nearly doubled under Dr. DiCroce’s leadership.

Dr. DiCroce began her career teaching English at TCC and has served as both dean and provost at the college. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Old Dominion University and her doctorate in higher education from The College of William & Mary.

Recently Dr. DiCroce, who was born in Portsmouth and raised in Norfolk’s Ingleside neighborhood, was elected chair of the Hampton Roads Partnership. She also chairs the Urban League of Hampton Roads and serves on the Sentara Health System board. She chaired the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce in 2006 and led the 2002 United Way of South Hampton Roads campaign. She was the first community college president to lead the Virginia Council of Presidents, which includes the heads of Virginia colleges and universities. She was just announced as the 2011 recipient of the Darden Award for Regional Leadership from the CIVIC Leadership Institute.

During Light’s tenure from 1999 through 2011, the community foundation’s annual grants and scholarships have quadrupled to more than $12 million a year. Its assets have more than doubled to $244 million, and the community foundation has spearheaded initiatives such as Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads and the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence. In 2010 The Norfolk Foundation merged with The Virginia Beach Foundation to form the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

In the past 60 years, donors have enabled the community foundation to award more than $152 million in grants and scholarships to improve life in Hampton Roads.

For more information contact:  Sally Kirby Hartman at (757) 622-7951 or shartman@HamptonRoadsCF.org.