PIERCE COLLEGE : Foundation May Move on Campus

Esther Kenyon, the new executive director of the Foundation for Pierce College, said her first priority is to move the organization’s headquarters to an office on the Woodland Hills campus.

Moving the operation from its current location in Warner Center to a permanent office on campus will help the foundation’s goal of raising at least $350,000 for the college over the next three years, Kenyon said.

She said she hopes to complete the move within the next few months.

The foundation for the past 20 years has been raising funds to support the college’s programs and activities and provide scholarships to students. It raises money through direct-mail campaigns soliciting funds, requests for donations from large corporations and special events such as luncheons and black-tie dinners.

Kenyon, a certified fund-raising executive, began working for the foundation Feb. 10. She said her job requires a lot of public speaking.

Being on campus will enable her to “absorb the ambience into my psyche and speak with enthusiasm to inspire others to support the college,” she said. “If I am on campus, I can talk to students and faculty and really get it into my heart so I can speak from my heart.”

Kenyon was graduated from Cal State Northridge in 1982 with a bachelor of arts degree in humanities. She has been involved with health-care fund raising for the past 10 years.

“I have always had the highest respect for education,” she said, and this was the main reason she wanted to work for the foundation.

“I know how important it is that education is available to everybody, especially with today’s tough job market,” Kenyon said.

In her opinion, Kenyon said, the biggest problem facing today’s students is economics. “There aren’t that many part-time jobs available for students. That’s why the foundation places an emphasis on scholarships.”

She said she hopes to accomplish “some great work because the foundation is on the threshold of really great potential fund raising. The community is ripe to start supporting Pierce in a significant way.”