By Katharine Outcalt
The Community Fund’s Executive Director, Amy Korb, is an avid runner from New Jersey who is continually surprised to find herself in what she considers “my dream job.”
Raised in Ringwood, NJ, Korb graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in retail merchandising and textiles. Her first job took her to San Francisco, where she was a buyer for Macy’s.
After several years, Korb returned to the East Coast to further her career in product development and design, landing jobs with various high profile retailers, including Tommy Hilfiger and Federated Department Stores.
In New York, Korb met her husband Andy, an investment banker and now real estate developer. The two were introduced through mutual friends and shared a beach house in Fire Island one summer. After dating long distance for a few years, they were married and began their search for an ideal community to raise their family.
“Neither of us knew anything about Bronxville. We literally drew a 20-mile circle around a map of NYC and then closed our eyes and picked a point in the circle with my finger.” The area they chose was Cedar Knolls.
The Korbs eventually moved into the village when their children, Jack and Katie, were entering 5th and 2nd grades. In an effort to get to know her new community, Korb started volunteering with local organizations. This eventually led to serving as president of the Jr. League, governance roles with the Bronxville School PTA, and seats on the boards of the Bereavement Center of Westchester and The Community Fund.
In 2017, when then Community Fund Executive Director Melinda Burge made the decision to retire for a move to Steamboat, CO, with her husband, many eyes turned to Korb to apply for the position. “I was a little nervous because I hadn’t worked in 10 years, and it was a totally different field. I had volunteer experience but never any business experience running a small non-profit.”
As Executive Director of the Community Fund, Korb is tasked with managing an annual fundraising campaign that supports 26 social service agencies and community programs in Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe. She works closely with community leaders and is constantly forging liaisons with the agencies that The Community Fund supports.
Korb credits Sheridan Denfeld, The Fund’s finance administrator and only other employee, in contributing to her success thus far, as well as The Fund’s 32 board members. “I have been very lucky because I work with a huge contingent of residents who really care what happens here and want to take care of others,” says Korb. It’s the “ultimate job,” adds Korb. “Everyone wants you to succeed, so I always feel like I have the backing of everyone who lives here.”
How about the COVID-19 pandemic? At a time when just about everyone in the non-profit world is feeling the pinch, Korb coolly responds that “there has never been a more exciting time to work at The Community Fund.” Last March, as the world essentially shut down in response to the pandemic, The Community Fund, almost overnight, created an Emergency Community COVID-19 Relief Fund. To date, they have granted over $200,000 to local agencies with dire needs related to the coronavirus.
And is there anything Korb wishes she could improve, add or achieve? Yes, and it’s in the form of a first ever Youth Community Fund of Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe, which is already in the works. Founded last year, the group consists of teen volunteers who reside in Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe. Together they work on raising funds, identifying youth causes in the area, evaluating the needs, and allocating grant money. “It’s a mini Community Fund but for high school students,” says Korb. It’s an idea that Korb presented in her interview for the position in 2017, and she’s thrilled to see it in action and growing so quickly
While Korb spends her time these days working diligently on the needs of her community, the one thing she never loses sight of is her husband, two kids, extended family, and friends. These are her greatest cause – along with running, which really makes her happy.
