Adams tapped to lead PCCF

Local resident Barry Adams, who has more than three decades of experience working for nonprofit organizations, has been named the first executive director of the Pickaway County Community Foundation (PCCF).

The announcement was made this week by Foundation Chair Dan Litzinger and fulfills a long standing goal of the organization that was founded in 2001.

“Barry Adams not only has extensive experience in managing organizations like ours, he has done it very successfully at different institutions and under varying circumstances,” Litzinger said. “He has a remarkable track record in fundraising, public relations, and administrative management and we feel fortunate that Barry was not only very interested in the position but highly motivated to make a difference in his own home county.”

“I am very excited as well as very honored to be selected as the executive director,” Adams said. “Foundations like PCCF are vital to our nation’s health and instrumental in shaping opportunities, lives, and progress in communities throughout the U.S. Since I have spent most of my career helping to develop, build and sustain the success of nonprofit organizations, I cannot imagine a better way to serve my local community. But, without question, an organization that has already achieved much and has so much potential going forward will continue to need the support, advocacy and involvement of many, many Pickaway County residents and leaders.”

Outgoing Foundation Chair Michael Linton stressed that the Foundation has been reviewing resumes and interviewing candidates since early November.

“Barry’s perceptive aptitude and his extensive knowledge of the field were apparent from the first conversations we had with him,” Linton said. “He stood out as someone who would hit the ground running.”

Adams is an adjunct professor at Franklin University, where he teaches global issues, a required course for students seeking a bachelor’s degree at that institution. In 2014 he was awarded a Teaching Excellence Award based on student and lead faculty evaluations.

He recently completed a two-year stint as the chair of the Circleville City School Foundation Board of Directors and has been a member of that board since 2011.

A U.S. Naval intelligence veteran, Adams is a graduate of Circleville High School and Ohio University, where he earned a BSJ, majoring in public relations, and a master’s degree in international affairs. He has been recognized nationally for his leadership, volunteer programs, publications, and success in running alumni organizations for four different higher education institutions and his work has incorporated fundraising, publishing, promotions, special events, and community, volunteer and donor relations.

His work at Ohio University resulted in being selected to receive its prestigious Alumni Medal of Merit Award. In appreciation for his leadership as executive director, the OU Alumni Board of Directors created the W. Barry Adams Scholarship that annually provides an award for a Pickaway County student to attend OU on its Athens campus.

Adams and his wife, Elizabeth MacLeish, relocated to Circleville from Houston, Texas, six years ago to help his late father, Paul Adams, who at the time was facing some health challenges. He plans to begin his duties at PCCF this week.