Dirctor & Ex-officio Member, Rural Schools Collaborative
Gary Funk is an ex-officio member of the Rural Schools Collaborative board of directors and currently serves as the organization's director. He is the former president of the Missouri-based Community Foundation of the Ozarks. In 2013, he and his wife, Jana, moved to a small farm near Cambridge, Wisconsin, where they have been engaged in conservation work and community philanthropy.
Funk began working with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks in 1999 and, during his tenure, the Foundation experienced wonderful growth in total assets and annual grant making. In addition, the foundation became a rural philanthropy innovator with the establishment of more than 40 affiliated community foundations. In 2009, the Foundation launched the Rural Schools Partnership, an effort dedicated to school-centered philanthropy, place-based education, and the recruitment, preparation and retention of outstanding rural teachers. This last element, the Ozarks Teacher Corps, has been featured in national media such as Education Week, National Public Radio and USA Today.
Gary is on Twitter: @Rural_Schools