She glows Cheryl Taylor

she glows

CHERYL TAYLOR

Cheryl Taylor was supposed to go on four trips this year. After 30 years at Foellinger Foundation, it was time to celebrate retirement.

Well, you know where this is going: One by one, each trip was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

For the last 20 years, Taylor has been the president and CEO at Foellinger. She announced her May 31, 2020, retirement last June, but even that has been affected by the coronavirus. She now plans to stick around for at least two more months.

Ester A. and Helene R. Foellinger, a mother-daughter duo, formed Foellinger Foundation in 1958. The foundation is a permanent philanthropic endowment, and Taylor takes her job overseeing that endowment—assuring funds are distributed fairly, to do the most good—seriously.

“This is not my money,” she said. “No matter how long (the Foellingers have) been gone, my job is a stewardship job.”

Point of pride

Though Taylor has 30 years of achievements at the foundation, it doesn’t take her long to figure out what she’s most proud of: the Helene Foellinger Leadership Development Initiative, which trains nonprofit leaders and board members.

“You can build buildings all day long. You can provide equipment all day long, but if you don’t have the people who care about their missions; if you don’t have the people who know how to best lead their organizations …” she said, trailing off. “This is the best thing we’ve ever done.”

In 2016, the initiative kicked off a program specifically for CEOs, and Taylor remembers a win from about two years ago. After the participant was about halfway through the program, they realized, “I’m not cut out to be a CEO.” They were great at fundraising, but they didn’t want to supervise people or deal with the minutia of leadership like updating policy manuals.

“That is a win for the person,” Taylor said. “That is a win for the organization.”

Retirement to-dos

In retirement, Taylor doesn’t exactly plan to be a retired person. For one, she will maintain her spot on Foellinger’s board, even after her presidency has ended. Plus, she’ll continue her membership on the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance and Indiana Parks Alliance boards. Ditto the Quest Club of Fort Wayne board and a new statewide commission she can’t yet discuss.

She’ll write about philanthropy and nonprofits. She’ll read a lot. When we chatted in May, she was working on a collection of books: “Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War” and a book of essays by poet Mary Oliver. She just finished “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History” and just started “Janis,” a biography of Janis Joplin. She loves murder mysteries.

And she’ll garden.

“No one would describe me as a Pollyanna, but I am trying to find some piece of joy each day” during the pandemic, she said. “It’s the simplest things. I watched the mallards in my backyard for a little bit this morning. I’m waiting for my grandmother’s peonies to bloom. I’ve been carting these plants around to every house I’ve owned for the last 35 years.”

UPDATE: Tapestry’s in-person event, which was rescheduled for August 28, has been cancelled due to COVID-19

Instead, Tapestry will host a week-long “Shop Tapestry” fundraiser event

Event will take place online, which will coincide with an online auction and special sponsor shopping promotions. Funds will still be used to support scholarships.

AUGUST 24-28, 2020

More information is available at pfw.edu/Tapestry

Preview the auction, bid and make donations online: bidpal.net/Tapestry2020

Join Tapestry in raising scholarship funds for students studying health sciences at Purdue University Fort Wayne and Indiana University Fort Wayne as we continue to celebrate the fabric of women in our community through inspiration, education and renewal.