From our news sources
Long-time Outer Banks Community Foundation Executive Director Lorelei Costa will depart the Outer Banks to become the next executive director and CEO of the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts in Virginia.
In a news release issued today, the foundation said Bob Muller will act as interim director while the board conducts a search for the next executive director.
“We are very grateful to Lorelei for her eight years of unwavering and dedicated devotion to the people of the Outer Banks in general, and to our Community Foundation, specifically,” said Clark Twiddy, president of the Community Foundation, in the release.
According to the release, during Costa’s tenure, the Outer Banks Community Foundation nearly tripled in size, in both its annual grant-making and in its endowment. Most recently, Costa led significant relief efforts in the Outer Banks during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping hundreds of families with childcare and educational needs during remote learning, and in 2019 after Hurricane Dorian, raising over $1.5 million in the weeks after the storm, rebuilding hundreds of households across Ocracoke and Hatteras.
“Lorelei has left an indelible legacy,” Twiddy said. “She leaves the Outer Banks Community Foundation poised to create more positive change for people and places on our beloved Outer Banks than at any time in our 39-year history.”
“I can hardly begin to express how blessed I feel to have served the Community Foundation over the past eight years,” said Lorelei. “Although my new position is an amazing opportunity for my career and my family, I am so grateful for every day that I’ve worked with the Foundation.”
The release said that the Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts is the premier visual and performing arts venue for Suffolk. Located in the restored Suffolk High School in the heart of downtown, it boasts a 530-seat theater, art galleries, and classrooms, housing both world-class and community-based art.
The Outer Banks Community Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization that connects people who care with causes that matter.
