With an official Rend Lake College Foundation Board vote, Kathleen (Kay) Zibby-Damron was appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of the RLC Foundation over the summer. Now, with her new team in place, she is focused on continuing the Foundation’s legacy of helping students reach their educational goals.
Kathleen (Kay) Zibby-Damron
Prior to coming to RLC, Zibby-Damron spent the majority of her career doing child welfare and development work in a social service setting. For the past thirteen-and-a-half years, Zibby-Damron worked in administration for the United Methodist Children’s Home. Prior to that, she worked for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
She holds a Master of Science in Human Services Degree with a specialization in the Management of Nonprofit Agencies from Capella University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Zibby-Damron was excited by the prospect to come to join the RLC family, “I have a passion for development work and helping raise awareness and support. An opportunity to do that full time with an institution like Rend Lake College was very appealing. It was a great opportunity that presented itself and was a great fit for what I enjoy doing.”
In addition to working in a field she enjoys, Zibby-Damron said that she has been very excited to become part of the RLC culture.
“I’ve been sharing with people that I feel like Rend Lake College is the best kept secret in Illinois. Our recent rankings demonstrate the huge positive impact our institution has on our students and our region. For me, everyone here makes you feel like you are at home. The commitment I’ve seen in just my short time here really demonstrates our desire to help our students be the best they can be.”
The Foundation’s CEO position was not the only new hire within the organization. Joining Zibby-Damron are Elizabeth (Liz) Oliver as the new Assistant Director of the Foundation and Britt Fullerton as the new Development Coordinator.
Oliver brings in past experience working in the community college setting. She will primarily focusing on the Foundation’s scholarship coordination as well as work in the community, helping organize special events. Fullerton will be joining the team this month. He will be handling many of the accounting responsibilities of the office, having spent the past year as a staff accountant for a large company. He will also assist with event planning and coordination.
“They are both great assets to the team,” Zibby-Damron said. “What has impressed me about both Britt and Liz is their eagerness to build relationships and interact with Rend Lake’s students. We are going to continue our great tradition of the Foundation’s development, and we are also eager and excited to build those relationships with students and serve as a resource for them.”
With the success of the Rend Lake College Foundation’s 36th Annual Golf Outing in their review mirrors, the team will now shift primary focus to their annual Foundation Scholarship Awards Banquet in October where local students and scholarship donors will be honored.
For more information about scholarships or donating to the RLC Foundation, contact Zibby-Damron at [email protected] or visit the Foundation’s web page at www.rlc.edu/foundation.
