Lovell Foundation Selects John Amoroso as Executive Director
TUCSON, AZ – John Amoroso is the new executive director of the David and Lura Lovell Foundation, which was founded in 1994 and is based in Tucson.
The family foundation supports nonprofit projects related to mental health, integrative medicine, cultural and spiritual enrichment and other family-initiated grants. In 2015 the foundation awarded more than $2 million to 15 nonprofits in Tucson, 6 in Toledo, Ohio, and several national projects.
Over the past 15 years, Amoroso has successfully managed multi-million-dollar grant portfolios from the design to the reporting phase. He’s collaborated with executive staff, boards of directors and community partners on high-impact philanthropy and worked directly with nonprofits across the West on management, fundraising and capacity building.
Amoroso has served as program officer for The Ford Family Foundation, Oregon’s largest private foundation, funding more than $30 million in grants and scholarships annually. He managed more than 180 responsive grants for rural youth in the areas of access to health and dental care, abuse prevention and positive development, as well as providing community meeting spaces for them. One key project was helping design and implement a seven-year, $7 million proactive grant encouraging post-secondary education in rural communities.
Most recently, he managed a region for the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board’s bi-annual responsive grant cycle for natural resource restoration and a statewide technical assistance grant for community collaboration on forestry issues. He has a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Regis University in Denver and received his bachelor’s degree in English from Carroll College in Helena, Montana.
“I believe I can add vision and enthusiasm to the Lovell Foundation’s efforts toward achieving high-impact giving goals,” he said, adding that “the Lovell Foundation’s interest areas and office location both spoke to my heart.” His extended family has spent many years advocating for and pioneering integrative approaches to personal wellbeing – including mental, physical, and spiritual health. A move to Tucson will bring him closer to family and fulfill his career goal of leading a foundation.
“John is a skilled administrator and relationship builder and brings to the position a deep understanding of both our key mission areas and our goals to increase impact in the communities we serve. The foundation is excited to welcome him as our new executive director and community leader,” said Ann Lovell, foundation president and trustee.
The Lovell Foundation is governed by three second-generation trustees and a board of advisors that includes family members and non-family members with expertise in law, accounting, asset management, education, mental health and nonprofit administration.
Since 1994, the Lovell family foundation awarded more than $13 million in grants, partnering with more than with 60 nonprofit organizations locally and nationally. The foundation was established with proceeds from the sale of the chemical company David Lovell founded and grew for 25 years in Toledo, Ohio. After he died unexpectedly, his wife Lura and daughter Ann moved the foundation forward.