Thank You: Julie Rocco
After ten incredible years of service, Foundation Senior Director of Grants Management and Administration Julie Rocco stepped away from her role effective Friday, July 17th, to focus on her community development, art and mental health, and suicide prevention work.
During her decade with the Foundation, Julie served in a variety of capacities, from assisting with facilities and technology management to helping run our community vaccination and testing campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bulk of her tenure, however, was spent supporting our fantastic funded partners with an accessible, transparent, and equitable grantmaking program. The values-aligned systems and processes Julie helped put in place will continue to foster a robust Foundation grantmaking program well into the future. Before her departure, we sat down with Julie for an update on what’s next.
Tell us a little more about what comes next for you:
I try to live by the principle that you’re supposed to leave the world a better place. That means if I can find the nexus between need, opportunity, joy, and skill, then it’s my responsibility to step into it. Right now, I’m thinking about how I have the ability to help galvanize mental health and suicide prevention, which are important to me, through my own lived experience to amplify and elevate voices that can create connection, belonging, and a reason for someone to stay.
You’ve mentioned working at the intersection of arts and health and on community development. Can you say more about those areas?
We have such a vibrant arts community that’s appreciated for its role in aesthetics, tourism, and as an economic driver. I don’t think we’ve quite fully manifested conversations about the nexus between art and health with scientific rigor – and there is literal evidence about that connection. I want to be a part of that.
Regarding community development, I think the neighborhoods we live, work, play, study, and pray in are what shapes our lives. When you think about the impact that has, I’m interested in the idea of how we honor history and project the future through development.
What else are you excited for?
I’ll be able to visit my granddaughter Dahlia, my sons Zach and Nick, and my daughter-in-law Aly more often. I’ve always said I never want to be so busy saving the world that someone else is saving my family. I don’t want to be so busy that I’m not able to get to know my granddaughter the way that I want. My mom and stepdad are also aging, and I want to be able to help them. Family has always been my number one priority.
You’ve been with the Foundation for 10 years and have worked on so many different efforts. Is there anything you’re particularly proud of or want to highlight when looking back?
In my role, I’ve had the opportunity to be innovative with grantmaking in terms of offering different ways to apply, and being willing to take on risk by partnering with local nonprofits that were just forming. We were able to use the credibility of our reputation to bolster their credibility, and that matters.
Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege to work with so many incredible partners, and I hold them all in a positive light because each of them is showing up courageously to serve community and meet the challenges of the day in their own unique way. That we all continue to show up is a manifestation of collective hope that we can do something about this.
We thank Julie for the difference she has made in the health of our community over the past decade and wish her the very best in her next chapter. You can reach out to or keep in touch with Julie via her LinkedIn profile.