Atlanta Community Foundation names Virginia Hepner interim head

As it searches for a new permanent president and CEO, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has tapped veteran leader Virginia Hepner to serve as its interim executive. Hepner was introduced as the interim at a meeting of Community Foundation staff members on Tuesday morning. “We are thrilled to have Virginia in as interim,” said Julia Houston, board chair of the Community Foundation.

“She’s a respected leader with deep Atlanta relationships and broad executive experience. We know she has the proven ability to lead organizations as they go through a transition.” Hepner has had a great deal of experience in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She spent the first 25 years of her career as a bank executive before retiring from Wachovia in 2005.

That’s when her career shifted to the nonprofit sector. She served as interim executive director of Brand Atlanta for then-Mayor Shirley Franklin; as interim head of the Atlanta Ballet in 2009 and as interim executive of Young Audiences from Oct. Then, in 2012, she became president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center until 2017.

Virginia Hepner, former CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center and the first woman director on National Vision’s board, with Reade Fahs, the company’s executive chair. (Photo courtesy of National Vision.) Since then, she has been involved in real estate until 2022. She also has served on three corporate boards: Huntington Bank, National Vision Holdings Inc.

Hepner also has been an engaged civic leader, serving on the board of the Westside Future Fund. She also is a former board member of the Community Foundation, and she currently services on its Housing and GoAtl Investment committees. Other civic roles include the Penn Institute for Urban Research, the WABE Foundation, the Russell Innovation Center’s finance committee, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and IWF Georgia.

When contacted about her serving as interim CEO of the Community Foundation, Hepner texted back: “I know, crazy!” In all seriousness, Hepner said she feels a deep sense of gratitude for the Community Foundation, and she has a deep love for Atlanta. “They are an anchor institution,” she said in a phone interview. It has great people and a great board.