OBCF Chief Operating Officer Nandy Stuart Named Vice President of Programs

By Maggie McNinch  

The Outer Banks Community Foundation (OBCF) has announced that Chief Operating Officer Nandy Stuart has assumed the role of Vice President of Programs, overseeing the foundation’s grants and scholarship programs. 

Stuart has been with the Community Foundation since August of 2019. Shortly after she started working for OBCF, Hurricane Dorian pummeled Ocracoke Island, which was an adventurous introduction to living and working on the Outer Banks. 

“I had quite the crash course in the Community Foundation work,” she said with a laugh.

But with 10 years of nonprofit experience, she was already accustomed to the versatile nature of the nonprofit world and was prepared for the relief work that comes after a hurricane. She spent a week in Ocracoke representing the Community Foundation in disaster recovery work post Dorian.

Outside of her previous nonprofit work, Stuart grew up in South America, which enabled her to bring bilingual skills and a unique multicultural perspective to the Community Foundation. 

Now, six years later, she continues to wear many different hats for the Community Foundation, serving as the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Programs. In addition to leading the scholarship program, she has also taken on a leadership role in the grants program this past year.

Stuart sees her additional work within the grants program as bringing her career full circle, since for many years before coming to the Community Foundation, she wrote and managed countless grants herself as the Director of Outreach Programs for a domestic violence agency in Florida.

“Being on the other side of that — getting to work with the grantees and make the program better and more user-friendly, as well as really honing in on what we as the Community Foundation want to do as far as impact is concerned — is really something that’s exciting to me,” said Stuart.

When Stuart talks to organizations that are interested in applying for a grant, she explains the application process and guidelines, as well as offers her assistance and guidance. Stuart’s previous experience with writing grants allows her to further connect with them and meet them where they are.

“I see myself as the advocate for the nonprofit,” said Stuart. “My job is to help them complete the most efficient application possible, so that then our committee really has to think about who they’re going to be funding.”

Another part of Stuart’s job is to be transparent and proactive in sending out relevant grant information so that it is accessible to all of the qualifying nonprofits. Stuart also takes time throughout her various conversations with nonprofits to learn what works and doesn’t work within the grant application process so that they can streamline it for future applicants.

“They put so much effort into it, so it makes me want to do a much better job for them, to simplify the process and make it easier for them to be able to get the funding that they need to do the hard, hard work that they’re already doing,” said Stuart.

Stuart finds that her grants work fits in well and appreciates the fluidity of her day-to-day life. With a background in education, she said that people always ask her why she didn’t go into teaching, but she feels like her path went the right way and she gets to educate every day, just in a different capacity.

“I really love the process of it all — my interactions with the nonprofits and really understanding what their needs are, and really listening to what their projects are about. It’s just wonderful for me, and it really informs a lot of the other work that we do,” said Stuart.

Just like the grants program, the scholarship program has a direct impact on the community, and Stuart has been involved with it since her early days at OBCF. She views it as a privilege to see the span of each of their scholarship recipients’ educational journeys, and she is immensely proud to see the program grow every year.

One of her main goals for the future is to put that same energy into the grants program so that they can receive more funding, expand it and give more opportunities to the organizations who are doing such crucial work for the community.

“I live in gratitude,” said Stuart. “Between getting to know all of the amazing young people — which gives me so much hope for the future — and all the nonprofits that are out there helping everyone in our community, we are super lucky in Dare County to have the folks that are here.”

You can reach out to Stuart regarding grants or scholarships at 252-423-3003 or nandy@obcf.org.

About the Outer Banks Community Foundation: The Outer Banks Community Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to fostering philanthropy and supporting local causes. Through its charitable funds and grant programs, the Foundation strives to enrich the quality of life for residents of the Outer Banks.