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Gordon Wean recognized with 'Valley Impact Award' by the Association of Fundraising Professionals at November 2009 event

The letter below nominates him for the honor:

When Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams told 700 people gathered at the Union Baptist Church in February 2009 that a community without vision will perish, Gordon Wean nodded his head and clapped.

Wean, the grandson of the industrialist Raymond John Wean, was in the audience as officials of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative talked about plans to help revitalize Youngstown neighborhoods and make life better for residents.

Wean was excited and proud.

Wean has long known that communities need vision and leadership and he has pushed the Wean Foundation toward fostering both here in the Mahoning Valley. 

His family's foundation that bears his grandfather's name helped to launch the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative with a $500,000 grant. This grant is one of several that the foundation has awarded to projects that seek to help those in greatest need.

Gordon Wean, chairman of the foundation and the man responsible for steering the recent transformation into an active local community force seeking social impact, has also been a strong advocate for the community college at Youngstown State University. Gordon Wean believes that the community college is the perfect answer for many area residents who need more education but for whom a four-year degree may not be the answer.

Joel Ratner, president of the Wean Foundation, praised Gordon Wean's dedication to the Mahoning Valley. "He believes in giving voice to those who don't have a voice and supporting those who are unsupported," Ratner said.

Ratner joined the organization in 2007 as part of its changed focus to support local projects that will help those in need and spark community building.

When Gordon Wean took over as chairman of the foundation after his father's death in 2007, he decided that the foundation had an obligation to give back to the area where his family had earned its money. This philosophy was inspired, in part, by a desire to avoid what so many companies and executives had done: make money in the Mahoning Valley and then leave, forgetting about the community and people who had been integral to success.

The Wean Foundation each year awards over $3.5 million to scores of Valley organizations.