Photo by Jon Anderson.
Ann Marie Harvey, executive director of the Hoover City Schools Foundation.
When Shelley Shaw stepped down as executive director of the Hoover City Schools Foundation in November, the organization didn’t have to go far to find its next director.
Ann Marie Harvey, the vice president of content and communications for Vertical Solutions Media, had been working with the foundation for five years as a public relations contractor.
Harvey agreed to step in as interim executive director while the foundation board conducted its search, and then the board decided it wanted Harvey to fill the role permanently.
“The hiring committee conducted a lengthy search, interviewed some great options, and we are elated with the choice,” foundation President Paul Dangel said. “Ann Marie brings a wealth of institutional knowledge coupled with a love for Hoover City Schools that is almost unmatched. We look forward to continuing our mission of funding grants for Hoover’s teachers and students and are confident Ann Marie is the leader we need.”
Harvey, who took over the position in March, said the move made good sense to her and felt right.
She has a lot of teachers in her family, including her mother, and this is an opportunity to step into education without actually being an educator herself, she said.
Harvey grew up in northern Kentucky and came to Birmingham to attend Samford University, where she had a double major in mass communication and Spanish. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked in corporate communications for State Farm, managing all of its publications, for five years.
She then moved to Southern Progress, serving as a book editor for Oxmoor House for three years, and followed that with 18 months doing public relations work for Lewis Communications.
She shifted into freelance work for more than a decade before joining Vertical Solutions Media 10½ years ago. She’s still officially with Vertical Solutions Media but spends most of her time with the foundation job, which is a full-time role, she said.
Harvey said she was able to learn a lot about the foundation by working with the previous executive directors, so that gave her a head start when she took over the role. But 25 hours a week as an interim director was not enough time to accomplish all the work that needs to be done, so she is plugging into the role full-time now, she said.
Her job is much like being a “captain of the ship,” she said. The board of directors makes the decisions about where they want the foundation to go, and she executes their decisions to make it happen, she said. But the foundation could not be a success without all the volunteers and board committee members who pour into it, Harvey said. “You’re only as good as your volunteers.”
One of her biggest tasks is to try to look for new ways to bring in funds to support the work of the foundation, she said.
Harvey said she has experience in grant writing, so she’s putting that to use with the foundation. She already has applied for two grants on behalf of the foundation and plans to seek more.
The foundation also plans to re-emphasize its Commit 36 campaign, asking people to donate $1 for each of the 36 weeks of the school year, she said. If they could find a donor to cover every child in the school district, that would mean almost $500,000 for the foundation.
The foundation also wants to establish a new fall event because the comedy fundraiser at the Stardome Comedy Club didn’t raise as much money in the past two years as had been hoped.
Harvey said she wants people to understand the money the foundation raises goes above and beyond the basics, funding extra initiatives to enrich children’s experiences in school. “It’s making a difference,” she said.
