May 1, 2012 2 min read

The Community Foundation of Fayette County (CFFC) has announced that Uniontown native Marilyn J. McDaniel has been named its new chief executive officer.

She replaces Clara Pascoe who recently left the local group to join the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.

McDaniel was born and raised in Fayette County. She is managing consultant of McDaniel Leff Consultants, a management advisory firm based in Pittsburgh that she founded in 1989. She and her colleagues provide transition management and development services through short-term and ongoing projects in western Pennsylvania and across the country.

Her work has been directed at generating gifts, grants and directed funding for a range of organizations, including human services, arts and culture, tourism, community development, education and public health.

McDaniel is a former executive director of the Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc. She also is the founder of three Fayette County nonprofit agencies, the Family Abuse Council, Women’s Opportunities Retraining Center and the Fayette Literacy Council.

During her most recent work as interim chief executive officer for the Mahoning Youngstown Community Action Partnership in Youngstown, Ohio, her work resulted in the state of Ohio lifting the high-risk status under which it had placed the agency in 2010, according to the CFFC.

A third generation Uniontown native, McDaniel is returning to her home town to take over the recently vacated senior leadership position at the community foundation.

“Marilyn brings experience as both a nonprofit executive and professional fundraiser. She will work closely with the board to increase assets under management to help the region grow and prosper,” said Valerie Bacharach, CFFC board president.

“I am very enthusiastic about by new role,” McDaniel said. “The community foundation mobilizes people, institutions and resources to ensure a self-sustaining permanent philanthropic fund.

The foundation gives people and businesses a means to support the community in the way that is most meaningful to them. It is a very democratizing experience that allows all citizens of Fayette County to create their own charitable legacies,” she added.

McDaniel is married and has two children. She has a masters degree in nonprofit management and is a nationally certified fund raising executive.