Sherry Toliver Named Executive Director of Fort Smith Area Community Foundation

Sherry L. Toliver has been named Executive Director of Fort Smith Area Community Foundation, a local office of  Arkansas Community Foundation.

“We are delighted to have someone with Sherry’s diverse experience and heart for service on the staff of Arkansas Community Foundation,” said Heather Larkin, President and CEO.  “Her commitment to the people of Fort Smith and her leadership skills will enable Fort Smith Area Community Foundation continue to thrive.”

Toliver grew up in Fort Smith and graduated from Lincoln High School.  She then moved to Texas and Missouri, where she graduated from Penn Valley College.  She worked for the Social Security Administration in Kansas City for 28 years before her retirement in 2004.  

She returned to Fort Smith where she and friends published the Lincoln Echo.  Toliver is a graduate of Leadership Fort Smith and was honored as Woman of Distinction by the Mount Magazine Girl Scout Council.  She has received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the Mayor’s Perfect Harmony Award and the Fort Smith Round Table Community Service Award.  She is a mentor with the Christian Women’s Job Corps and president of the Lincoln Alumni Association, Inc.

Toliver is a member of Ninth Street Baptist Church and the Fort Smith Historical Society.  In Fort Smith she has served on the Museum Board, Art Center Board, Lincoln Childcare Center Board, the Juvenile Crime Taskforce and the City Housing Assistance Board.  She also was appointed to the State Minority Business Advisory Council.

Arkansas Community Foundation makes grants to improve the quality of life in our state and collaborates with individuals, families and organizations to build local communities through philanthropy. At the close of the 2011 fiscal year, ARCF had more than $150 million in assets. The Foundation has provided more than $90 million in grants since it began operation in 1976.  Contributions to ARCF, its funds and any of its 27 local affiliate offices are fully tax deductible.

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