Pittsburgh, Pa. – June 28, 2019 – After 11 years of service to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Connie Eads, CPA, vice president and chief financial officer, will balance her last spreadsheet today.
She’s retiring, having been instrumental in re-engineering the management of the Conservancy’s investments, jump-starting a major software system overhaul, maintaining WPC’s top rating from Charity Navigator and, by virtue of her wry wit, assuring we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
Tom Saunders, president and CEO of the Conservancy, said, “The Conservancy has been incredibly fortunate to have had Connie Eads as our CFO. Connie is an expert at all things financial, she is efficient and organized, and she has advanced our organization in so many ways. We will all miss Connie’s leadership, expertise, warmth, energy and wit. She led us in all aspects of finance and technology — and made us laugh at the same time.”
She has been, as they say in the finance world, an asset. Connie was the first woman from Ohio University to be hired directly into a Big 8 accounting firm, with Arthur Young & Company (now Ernst & Young) in Pittsburgh, back when pantsuits were not acceptable attire. Since then she has had 37 years of service and leadership in Pittsburgh’s accounting, government, nonprofit and broadcasting arenas.
She has served as the vice president of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs and as president of the PICPA’s Pittsburgh Chapter and is a two-time recipient of their Distinguished Service Award. She is a past member of Ohio University’s National Alumni Board and Executive Advisory Board and served on the Board of Visitors for Robert Morris University’s business school and their veteran’s center. (Wow, we sure caught a good one!)
“I will miss the Conservancy,” Connie said. “We do such important work, and our staff is the brightest, most passionate staff you could ever hope for. But, it’s time to trade in my faithful calculator for a good book, a glass of wine and some traveling!”
After traveling to Rome to walk her nephew down the aisle, Connie plans to relax with her husband and cat at their historic home and “do whatever I want to do.” If you see Connie – and she assures you it won’t be in rush-hour traffic – please wish her a happy retirement.
Connie, from all of us at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Fallingwater, we wish you the best and thank you for all of your good and hard work! It’s time to close the books.
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About the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy:
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) enhances the region by protecting and restoring exceptional places. A private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932, WPC has helped to establish 11 state parks, conserved more than a quarter million acres of natural lands and protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams. The Conservancy owns and operates Fallingwater, which was donated to WPC in 1963 and symbolizes people living in harmony with nature. In addition, WPC enriches our region’s cities and towns through 132 community gardens and other green spaces that are planted with the help of more than 11,000 volunteers. The work of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is accomplished through the support of more than 9,000 members. For more information, visit WaterLandLife.org or Fallingwater.org.