The Arizona Community Foundation announced the transition of Chief of Staff Glenn Wike who will leave the foundation on Sept. 1 to take the newly established CEO position with the Burton Family Foundation, an ACF supporting organization in Phoenix.

In his new role, Wike will lead the Burton Family Foundation’s programmatic initiatives and strategies to deploy resources in communities across Arizona, according to a press release. Since inception, the $130 million organization has awarded more than 1,000 grants and scholarships totaling $26 million to numerous causes including youth programming, college and career readiness initiatives, leadership development, nonprofit capacity building in rural communities and a range of human services programs.

“Glenn has been instrumental in guiding the Burton Family Foundation’s giving strategies since its inception in 2015 and we look forward to his leadership and insight as we move into the next phase of our philanthropic work,” Christy Burton, co-founder and chair of the Burton Family Foundation Board, said in the release. “Glenn’s considerable knowledge of Arizona’s nonprofit and philanthropic community, combined with his expertise in mobilizing resources for community good, will position the Burton Family Foundation to grow and evolve our grant-making in response to changing community needs and aspirations.”

Wike has had a considerable impact on the work of ACF over his 11-year tenure. As senior vice president of community investment, he led ACF’s grants management and scholarships teams, which collectively deployed more than $100 million annually, according to the release. Wike led ACF’s collaboration with corporate and foundation partners to deploy $10 million in emergency support to nonprofits early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and later went on to lead ACF’s work with government partners to deploy $140 million in pandemic relief grants to thousands of small businesses across Arizona.

Wike was also responsible for the creation of ACF’s public policy committee and ACF’s engagement in public policy work across the state.

“ACF has been fortunate to have Glenn’s leadership through times of unprecedented growth,” stated Leezie Kim, ACF Board Chair. “His ability to work across various internal departments and establish strong collaborative relationships with community leaders have become a model for other community foundations. We are fortunate that his expertise will remain in the ACF family as he takes the lead at the Burton Family Foundation.”

ACF leadership has begun working on an interim plan for future leadership of the foundation’s community investment team and policy and public affairs efforts and will announce additional information upon completion of its new strategic plan in the spring of 2024.