CFSA Announces Election of New Board Chair and Vice Chair

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA) is pleased to announce the election of a new Chair and Vice Chair to lead CFSA’s Board of Trustees in the coming year. Styne Hill will serve as the board’s new Chair, and Ron Marx will serve as Vice Chair.

CFSA’s President and CEO Jenny Flynn shared, “Styne and Ron are both thoughtful, skilled, wise leaders whose longstanding commitment to Southern Arizona will serve CFSA well in this transformative moment of opportunity and growth in service to our community. We are extremely grateful for their leadership and dedication.”

Flynn continued, “I also want to recognize Jan Lesher for her service as Board Chair during a critical time of growth and transition at the Foundation. As Chair, Jan provided invaluable insight, perspective, and guidance to the Board of Trustees and staff leadership, and I am pleased to share that she will remain on the board as Immediate Past Chair.”

Styne Hill is the President of Styne Hill & Associates, LLC, specializing in business and information systems strategies and integration. She has more than 40 years of experience in the defense industry. Hill’s leadership, technical skills, and business experience leading large-scale programs and project management initiatives proved critical to the success of her previous role as the Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Raytheon Missile Systems.

Hill is a respected and passionate leader with a long history of service in the Tucson community. She has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations, committees, and volunteer teams, including the UA President’s African American Community Advisory Council, Arizona Technology Council, Tucson Urban League, UA MIS Board of Advisors, Tucson Chamber of Commerce, and many others.

Hill has been engaged with the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona since 2013, serving on the Advisory Board of the African American Legacy Fund and chairing the Advisory Board from 2016 to 2018. She joined CFSA’s Board of Trustees in 2019 and currently serves on the Foundation’s COVID-19 Grant Review Committee.

“I am honored and humbled that my colleagues have chosen me to lead the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona’s Board of Trustees during such an important time for our community and our organization,” shared CFSA Board Chair Styne Hill. “I would like to congratulate Ron Marx on his new role as Vice Chair and thank my predecessor, Jan Lesher, for her commitment and support.”

Hill continued, “We are extremely fortunate to have benefited from Jan’s leadership in this unprecedented time of community need. During her tenure as board chair, CFSA provided over $3.7 million in COVID-19 relief funding and expanded critical programs to support our nonprofit partners. I look forward to continuing to work with Jan and our entire Board of Trustees to support CFSA’s dedicated staff in creating an equitable and vibrant community for all Southern Arizonans.”

Dr. Ron Marx is a Professor of Educational Psychology and former Dean of Education at the University of Arizona. His previous appointments were at Simon Fraser University and the University of Michigan, where he served as the Chair of the Educational Studies Program, co-director of the Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education, and co-director of the Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools.

Marx has had an active research career, having published over 120 scientific papers and articles and raised nearly $40 million for research and development projects over his career. His interdisciplinary research focuses on enhancing science education and developing teacher professional development models. His recent work with psychologists, early childhood educators, and public health researchers focuses on early education and school readiness.

Marx joined CFSA’s Board of Trustees in 2017 and is an active member of the board’s Community Investment Team and Governance Committee. He also serves on CFSA’s COVID-19 Grant Review Committee.