MCF Welcomes Ryan Robinson to Board

Washington County, OH – Marietta Community Foundation welcomes Ryan Robinson to their Board of Directors.

“I look forward to giving back to the community that shaped my childhood, development, and character,” said Robinson. “This community gave me the foundation and opportunity to be successful and I would like to help give others, especially those less fortunate, similar opportunities for their future.” 

Robinson is the Chief Financial Officer at HG Energy, LLC in Parkersburg, W. Va. He has a strong background in energy and finance, specializing in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions. He originally graduated in 1999 from the Untied States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY with a B.S. in Marine Transportation. After the Academy, he went on to attend the Red McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin from 2005 to 2007, completing an MBA in Energy Finance.  

The Robinson family has a long history of service to this community. Harry Robinson, Ryan’s grandfather, was instrumental in the creation of Marietta’s biggest attraction, The Sternwheel Festival. Ryan’s father, Doug Robinson, served two consecutive five-year terms, with his last term ending in December of 2018. Now, just one year later, Ryan gets to pick up where his father left off.

“I have served the Foundation for over twelve years now,” said Heather Allender. “For ten of those years, I was able to learn from and work with Doug, so I am excited to see the Robinson legacy continue through another generation.”

Previously, the Foundation announced that Inez Bowie, CPA, CSEP, Senior Manager at the Marietta branch of Rea & Associates, would be joining the Foundation’s Board of Directors. However, in an effort to maintain community trust and avoid a conflict of interest, for both the Foundation and Rea & Associates, Bowie decided to step down from her newly appointed position.

“I am disappointed that I will not be able to stay on the board,” said Bowie, “but we [Rea & Associates and the Foundation] saw a potential conflict that needed to be addressed. I look forward to assisting the Foundation through our services, but I will not be able to serve as a board member at this time.”

Rea & Associates offers several services to the Foundation, including audits. Though initially no potential conflict was recognized, after further review the two organizations realized the perception of potential conflict could have left them open to scrutiny.

“We realized there would be a potential conflict after Inez had already joined the board,” said Heather Allender, President & CEO of the Foundation. “Though we would have benefitted from her expertise, we have to make sure we operate with best practices in mind… we want to uphold the trust of our donors and the rest of the community.”

Once the Board of Directors was notified that the position needed to be filled once again, several members immediately responded that they felt Ryan Robinson would be a great fit.

On Thursday, October 3rd, the Foundation’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to have Robinson join in their mission of serving Washington County.

“We are going to continue to grow MCF’s reach and size, as well as, identify and address new and growing areas of concern within the community,” said Robinson. 

Marietta Community Foundation works to improve Washington County through grants and initiatives, if you are interested in learning more about their efforts, please contact Heather Allender at 740-373-3286 or heather@mcfohio.org.