Ashley Maher joined Charlotte Community Foundation in March 2017 and was named the Foundation’s Executive Director in August 2018.

She previously served as the Director of Marketing & Development and Interim President & CEO at the Foundation and, prior to joining CCF, she was the Director of Marketing with Unity Medical. Ashley has a history of working in nonprofits in addition to serving on various nonprofit boards such as the United Way of Charlotte County and the Fred Lang Foundation.

“When I accepted my new career at CCF, it was based on my hope that through CCF’s collaboration with donors, community partners and non-profits we will not only build up the grant and scholarship programs we have, but flourish in new opportunities that strengthen our community. CCF serves a great purpose and I’m thrilled to continue to tell our story as the leader of CCF,” stated Maher. “With every closed chapter a new one begins, and I am excited to lead the tremendous and growing team at CCF.

With over 20 years of service in public education, Dr. Ken Savage has made leading for equity his personal mission. Having led schools at all levels (elementary, middle, and high), as well as district and state level leadership, Dr. Savage has served students in suburban communities as well as rural and urban settings. In his first sustained school turnaround administrative leadership experience at Dunbar High School, the school transformed from a D to an A, maintaining that A grade for the following year (2010, 2011).

After serving successfully as principal at Veterans Park Academy for the Arts, where he achieved the 2nd highest performance of all Title I K-8 schools in the State of Florida (2014), Ken was appointed as a turnaround principal for James Stephens International Academy. In one year, Dr. Savage helped improve the school grade from an F to a B. This improvement with a persistently struggling school, garnered his recognition as the State of Florida Principal of the Year for 2017-2018.

As a Principal Lead, Dr. Savage mentored and supported other new turnaround principals. Each of his mentee schools successfully exited Florida’s Differentiated Accountability by improving their respective grades to a C or higher. He has been a guest facilitator at Harvard Graduate School’s professional education program for turnaround leadership and has provided substantial video content for the University of Florida’s Educational Leadership program where he also served as an adjunct professor.

Prior to returning to Lee County, Dr. Savage served on the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet of the Florida Department of Education Division of Public Schools. At the State level, he was charged with influencing the design and implementation of policies impacting educational leadership and ultimately student achievement. His focus was on leading for equity, school and district leadership, and data-driven instruction. While leading at the agency level, he was one of only seven statewide recipients of the Governor’s Shine Award.

Prior to his appointment as Superintendent, Dr. Savage served as the Chief Operating Officer for The School District of Lee County, which serves over 96,000 students. In that position he provided leadership and supervision of the District’s largest division.

He is a home-grown product of the Lee County schools and with his own children entering the school system, the District’s mission to ensure that each student achieves his/her highest potential, is a personal one.