D51 Foundation Executive Director Angela Christensen announced she is retiring from her position after nearly 15 years of involvement with the foundation.

Christensen shared the news in a March 27 email she sent to White Iced Celebration sponsors. The White Iced Celebration was a major annual fundraiser organized by the D51 Foundation.

In the first paragraph of the email, Christensen wrote, “After much thought and reflection, I have decided that it is time for me to retire from my role as Executive Director of the D51 Foundation.”

She said she will remain in her position actively supporting the foundation until June.

She wrote that serving the foundation and School District 51 was one of the greatest honors of her professional life, and that began nearly 15 years ago as a D51 Foundation board member, then as executive director of the organization.

“I have had the privilege of working alongside an extraordinary group of business, school and community leaders who care deeply about the success of our schools,” she wrote. “Together, we have accomplished so much. I am incredibly proud of the growth the foundation has experienced during this time, including consistent increases in White Iced sponsorship and the development of a truly exceptional board and staff made up of respected leaders in our community. We have strengthened the foundation’s role as a strong partner to District 51. Thank you for your generous support through your sponsorship.”

Christensen expressed pride in the work the foundation did to support District 51’s schools, including work to get bond measures passed, such as the 2021 bond that made the new Grand Junction High School possible.

“These efforts required tremendous collaboration, hard work, commitment and belief in the future of our students, and I will always value the role many of us played throughout Mesa County in helping make those investments in our community,” she wrote.

Christensen said her role with the D51 Foundation was a natural continuation of her lifelong commitment to education, “from my years as a high school English teacher at PHS (Palisade High School) and as an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University and Colorado Mesa University, to my time serving and leading within the foundation. It has truly been a career that I have loved and one in which I have felt deeply fulfilled.”

She said her decision to retire comes with mixed emotions, but she knows it is the right time to begin a new chapter.

“I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family, traveling and continuing to connect with our community,” she wrote. “I will always cherish the friendships, the mission and the work we accomplished together.”

Christensen thanked the White Iced sponsors for their generosity and commitment to School District 51’s students, teachers and schools.

“Knowing we have such strong support gives me great confidence that the D51 Foundation is in an excellent position to continue the momentum we’ve been experiencing for many years to come,” she wrote.