Western Colorado Community Foundation President and CEO Anne Wenzel announced in a June 9 email letter she will retire from her position at the end of this year, concluding 25 years of leadership and service to communities across western Colorado.

The foundation added in a June 10 news release that during Wenzel’s tenure, “WCCF has grown into a trusted community institution that now stewards $211 million in total assets and distributes nearly $9.5 million annually in grants and scholarships throughout the Western Slope.”

The news release included WCCF Board of Directors Chair Terri Chinn saying Wenzel’s leadership helped shape the foundation into the organization it is today.

“Her commitment to this region, her care for people and communities and her ability to bring others together around shared goals have had a lasting impact across western Colorado,” she said.

But Wenzel’s letter said things best, so what follows is her letter:

I want to share some personal news with the many people who have supported and shaped WCCF over the years. At the end of this calendar year, I will step down from my position as President and CEO of the Western Colorado Community Foundation and begin the transition into retirement. This October, I will celebrate 25 years with this organization. A quarter century is a good long run!

It has been both a privilege and the joy of a lifetime to be entrusted with this role. For me, this has always been more than a well-suited job; it has been a calling. Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked with focus and passion alongside many others to help grow WCCF from its early beginnings into the organization it is today. In doing so, I’ve had the opportunity to carry forward the vision of the respected community leaders who founded WCCF in 1997 as a charitable foundation “built by the people, for the people of western Colorado.”

Today, WCCF is a highly regarded and impactful community foundation. We have a fabulous staff team of 15, a dedicated Board of Directors guiding our growth, and exciting forward-looking plans. Most importantly, we have a strong foundation and tremendous potential to continue amplifying generosity and strengthening communities across western Colorado.

For years, I joked that I would retire when we reached $100 million in assets. Never in a hundred years did I think we would actually get there, but we did, five years ago. And here we are in 2026, with more than $210 million in assets and generating nearly $9.5 million annually in grants and scholarships. I am truly humbled to have worked with so many generous donors, nonprofit partners, community leaders, and friends to build this institution. What we have accomplished together is something I will always be proud of.

I am working closely with our Board of Directors as we plan for WCCF’s next generation of leadership and the transition ahead. As the organization prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, the timing feels right for a new chapter to begin. While I am focused on completing several important organizational projects, I am also looking ahead to my own next chapter. That will include pursuing long-deferred intellectual interests, spending more time with my adult children, and continuing to travel internationally and explore the world with my husband of 35 years, David.

I do not plan to leave this community. Western Colorado is home, and I am certain I will find new ways to stay involved and contribute to this remarkable place.

We will share more information in the coming months about our leadership transition and plans to celebrate WCCF’s 30th anniversary.

In gratitude,

Anne Wenzel