Pat Lile ’60, president and CEO of the Arkansas Community Foundation (ARCF), announced her retirement, and the board of directors named ARCF executive vice president Heather Larkin Eason ’93, JD, CPA as incoming President and CEO. The Arkansas Community Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization serving donors, the nonprofit sector and the communities of Arkansas. ARCF has made grants totaling almost $42 million during its 30-year history.
Lile said her decision to retire ties to recent milestones reached by the Foundation – surpassing $100 million in assets in its 30th anniversary year, moving to office space in the train station with room for future growth and the achievement of significant sustainability and credibility.
“It is a great feeling to go out at the top of my game,” she said. “Also, I’m turning 70 next year and I want to spend more time with my husband, children and grandchildren.” A native of Hope, she and her husband, John ’59, a Little Rock attorney, have four children and five grandchildren.
A native of Charleston, Eason graduated from Hendrix College with distinction in Economics and Business. She uses her law and accounting background to work with donors, professional advisors and affiliate community foundations to build philanthropic funds for the benefit of Arkansas. In 2001, she was named a Hull Fellow and attended the Hull Leadership Program, a program to nurture and inspire the Southeast’s next generation of philanthropic leaders. In 2005, she was selected as one of five Americans to be a Transatlantic Community Foundation Fellow.