2017 Annual Report

Organizational Overview

Commonwealth of Virginia

Legislative Authorization Legislative Allocation

SWVA Cultural Heritage Foundation

Organizational Policy

Implementation

Employment (Administration)

DHCD

Policy

Fiscal Administration

Friends of SWVA

Employment

With the decline of the traditional industries of Southwest Virginia – agricultural tobacco, extractive coal mining, and labor-based manufacturing – the Commonwealth of Virginia recognized the need for an organization to lead the redevelopment of the region through a new system based on the creative economy. The Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission, established in 2008 by the Virginia General Assembly, took the lead on this initiative in Southwest Virginia. In 2011, the Commission became the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation. The Department of Housing and Community Development serves as the administrator for the organization and employees key leadership of both organizations, serves as a fiscal administrator and provides additional resources for organizational success. The Foundation operates with a full Board of Trustees made up of elected and lay leadership from throughout the 19 counties and four cities of the region. To further the organizations work, an 501(c)3 non-profit organization was established to operate along-side the foundation and serve as a fiscal, fundraising, and operational body. The two organizations work in tandem under the leadership of a single Executive Director reporting to two separate boards that oversee their individual authorizations. The complex nature of this model of public / private partnership is reflective of the complex economic issues the organization tackles on a daily basis.