Meet our new board chairperson

When Jean Moran asks her son 11-year-old Finnegan what mom is good at, he says, “Kickball.”

“Finny,” as she calls him, is wise beyond his years. Because while the mother of two and the new chairperson of the board of directors at the Quad Cities Community Foundation may indeed be good at connecting her foot to a fast-approaching bouncing ball, she is also great at connecting people in the community together for the greater good.

“Generosity is about time, it is about talent, and it is about treasure,” Moran said on her drive home after volunteering at her daughter 13-year-old Madeleine’s middle school on a freezing cold winter morning a couple of weeks ago. “The Community Foundation is an important connector of people and resources to make the Quad Cities the cool, creative place we know it is. It is something I hope to do more of as chairperson.”

Moran knows how transformational connecting people can be firsthand, as it was a Community Foundation donor—Dick Kleine—who connected her to the Quad Cities Community Foundation more than 10 years ago. After a professional career in pharmaceutical and medical sales in the Chicagoland area, Moran and her husband Matt moved back to the Quad Cities after having their first child to raise their family. She was eager to participate in the community in some way.

“I had met Dick through our church, and he inspired me to volunteer. He was kind enough to introduce me to the Community Foundation, where I immediately took an interest in serving on the grantmaking and scholarship committee,” she said.

On the committee, Moran and other Quad Citizens saw firsthand the greatest opportunities and pressing needs of the region, and was able to connect resources donors generously left in the trusting hands of the Community Foundation to organizations working to address critical issues. “As a committee, we were asking ourselves what the biggest issues in our community were, and how we could support the work people were doing with those resources. I saw firsthand how meaningful the work we do at the Community Foundation was—and is today.”

It was also something she could do at home—reading grant and scholarship applications—while her young children “trashed the house with their toys,” she quipped with a laugh. “There wasn’t a year that I’d sit down and read these applications without tears in my eyes, learning about young people in our community with big dreams for the future who were asking for support to turn those dreams into reality.”

Moran’s deep experience at the committee level eventually brought an invitation to join the board of directors six years ago. After serving as vice chairperson under past chairperson Jill McLaughlin, Moran took the reins in the New Year. “Our board of directors is made up of passionate, committed and thoughtful Quad Citizens who take our mission to transform the region to heart,” she said. “It is an honor to walk alongside them as we continue to extend the reach of generosity in this community we all proudly call home.”  

As Moran looks ahead to her tenure as board chairperson, she remains committed to connecting people through philanthropy—particularly young people to the Community Foundation. “The future of our community rests not only on those generous Quad Citizens who have partnered with us over our 55 year history, but also on new generations who are staying here after college, or returning here—like I did years ago—because of the quality of life this region offers. We welcome their participation in philanthropy, through their time, through their talent, and yes, through their treasure.”