Del. Community Foundation names new board chair

Fred C. Sears II, president and CEO of the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) announced on Aug. 1 that Kathleen Furey McDonough, Esq. has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the board of directors.

The DCF is a nonprofit, philanthropic organization that manages charitable funds and awards grants to benefit the community.  McDonough began serving her second term on the DCF Board of Directors in July 2004, chaired the personnel committee and held the office of vice chairman of the board.

 McDonough is a partner with the law firm of Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP where she founded and currently heads the firm’s labor and employment practice, representing management clients in labor and employment disputes. She has been recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading Delaware practitioner in labor and employment law each year since 2003.  McDonough has been named in the 2007 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, touted as the preeminent peer-review based referral guide to the legal profession in the country and was also honored with the 2007 Caleb R. Layton, III Service Award, awarded by the judges of the U.S. District Court for Delaware in recognition of her service to the court and the Bar.

“The Foundation is extremely fortunate to have such an experienced and talented person to chair our new board,” noted Sears. “For many years she has been a very active member of our board. Her passion for building for Delaware’s future is unmatched, and I look forward to continuing my strong relationship with her. I know she will be an excellent chairman for the Foundation.”

McDonough succeeds Thomas R. Pulsifer, Esq., a partner of Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell, as board chair. Pulsifer will continue to serve an additional two years on the DCF board as immediate past chairman.

“I can’t say enough wonderful things about Tom’s leadership these past two years,” Sears added. “He has been a great pleasure to work with and has been an inspiration to his fellow board members, to me and our entire staff. His knowledge of the community, his integrity and his constant focus on the state’s needs have been enormous assets to the foundation and to me personally.”

Named as new vice chairman, Thomas D. Wren of Greenville has been a Delaware Community Foundation board member for ten years. He is a director with Promontory Financial Group, LLC and was formerly group executive -treasurer of MBNA Corporation and MBNA America Bank, NA. “Tom has led our investment committee at a time when the stock and bond markets have been extremely volatile,” observed Sears. “In fact, the committee’s actions in diversifying our portfolio resulted in significantly better performance than the S&P 500 and all of our benchmarks in these difficult times.”