The Brown County Community Foundation has added two new members to its volunteer board of trustees: Kerry Ridge and Debbie Kelley.
“These individuals will bring diverse skills to the BCCF board to enhance the work of creating positive change in the community,” a press release said.
Ridge was raised on the far west side of Indianapolis. He met his wife at IU and upon her graduation in 1971 she accepted a teaching job in Brown County Schools. They were married in Brown County State Park in 1972 and have raised three sons in Brown County. Most of his career has been in industrial sales. He worked for a distribution company headquartered in Indianapolis that marketed industrial batteries and charging equipment in support of the material handling industry and standby power equipment for telecommunications and utilities. He became president of the company in 2003 and retired in 2016.
After 20 years in Philadelphia, Kelley and her husband, Tim, retired to Brown County in 2016. She has a finance degree from Wayne State University and is pursuing her master’s degree in philanthropy from Indiana University.
She has two sons and three grandchildren. She worked nearly 40 years in banking, led global marketing teams in Europe, South Africa and North America, and served in various roles as SVP at GE Capital. Her volunteer activities include the Ambler Area YMCA, Brown County YMCA, Darkness to Light, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Chariots for Hope and Brown County Weekend Backpacks.
“The role of the board of trustees is to provide strategic leadership to the BCCF, ensuring the organization stays focused on mission and vision,” the foundation said in a press release. “Board members develop policies and goals, are active fundraisers and are relentless in pursuing the foundation’s commitments to the community.”
The foundation also has a new board president in 2021, Phil McKown. He serves as the chair of the scholarship committee, following previous terms on the grants committee. He was born in Indianapolis and received degrees from Purdue University and Indiana University.
Phil and his husband have lived in Brown County since 1975. He enjoyed a career in engineering and software development at Indiana University Information Technology Services, the Cummins Technical Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He continues to enjoy a diverse set of interests, including music, visual arts, computer programming and auto racing.
The BCCF continuously seeks diverse representatives from Brown County to serve on the board and welcomes applications from any community member interested in making a positive difference in Brown County.
