To many people, Virginia G. Piper is a name on plaques and Playbills, but to Mary Jane Rynd, Piper was a mentor and friend. “I love to talk about Virginia,” Rynd said. “She was a woman who inspired people to do the best they could, and to do better than they ever thought they could. She had the highest integrity.” Today, Rynd is president and CEO of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the largest private foundation in Arizona. But before Rynd worked at the foundation bearing Piper’s name, she worked for Piper herself. Rynd, who discovered she had an affinity for accounting toward the end of college, was working at a Big 8 accounting firm where Piper’s sister was a client. Rynd attended various luncheons and events with the sisters and got to be friendly. Then one day Rynd received a call from Virginia. “She said, ‘Dearie, will you do my taxes?’ So I got to work with her, and it was such a privilege,” Rynd said. The widow of Motorola founder Paul V. Galvin, Piper had been active in philanthropy for decades. “She was very careful before she awarded a grant or made a contribution. She wanted to make sure she was giving it to an organization that was going to do good. She wanted it to benefit the community,” Rynd said. Karen Werner | Editor President and CEO of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust MARY JANE RYND OFFICE DOORS {valley changemakers} 12 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | FEBRUARY 2019

Surprisingly, despite her great wealth, Piper did her own record keeping. “She had a great system,” Rynd said. “She did everything on index cards. If she got an interest payment she’d write down the date and at the end of the year, type it up and give it to me.” Piper’s dignified influence and humble giving made an impression on the young CPA. Piper would visit organizations, meet with board members, ask tough questions, and make informed decisions on her own, with humility. “I learned to try to be a better person, and how to treat people with respect in any circumstance,” Rynd said. Rynd joined the trust as CFO nearly 18 years ago, two years after it was established following Piper’s death in 1999. “I got the job description and it just seemed like all the facets of my life — all of the boards and committees I’d been on, all that experience — kind of folded into the CFO position,” she said. After years of working at Piper Trust, Rynd was named CEO and president last June. Now, as the trust prepares to celebrate its 20 th anniversary, Rynd wants people to know that it continues to work hard to improve health, opportunity and well-being for the people of Maricopa County. Reflecting Piper’s own grantmaking, the organization supports education, the arts, healthcare and medical research, the needs of children and older adults, and religious institutions. “I think people should know that we probably have the most outstanding board of directors ever put together,” Rynd said. The eight board members meet 10 times a year to discuss the trust’s programs and grantmaking. “Everybody’s always there, always prepared. They have good questions, really probing sometimes, but always respectful and always with the best interests of the community,” Rynd said. As the trust looks toward its next 20 years, it has introduced some ambitious new initiatives. “I’m really excited about the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience with ASU,” Rynd said. “It’s a way for the really smart people at the university to interact with and obtain knowledge from the community about what the community feels its needs are, and then apply the research that the faculty does to help solve those needs.” Through partnerships among scientists, community members and partner organizations, the initiative will access all of the university’s assets to try to build resilience in our communities. Meanwhile, an older, equally far-reaching program will continue: the Piper Fellows program. The program was developed by Piper Trust’s first president, Judy Jolley Mohraz, in the first year of the trust’s existence. In meeting with nonprofit leaders in the community that year, Mohraz noticed they had one thing in common. “They all looked overworked and exhausted,” Rynd said. With an academic background, Mohraz decided that a fellowship program might be helpful. Today, that fellowship offers nonprofit leaders a self- designed professional development sabbatical so they can focus on leadership skills and programs to make their organizations more effective. “It has expanded, too; that’s the neat thing,” Rynd said. “People came back with such great ideas to help their organizations but they didn’t have the resources to implement them. So we started a grant program so that after the completion of your fellowship you can apply for a $50,000 grant to help implement your ideas.” The program has been transformative for some organizations, and for the Fellows themselves. Dozens of Piper Fellows bear the imprint of the training, their roots stretching deep beneath Arizona’s nonprofit terrain. But Piper Trust isn’t resting on its history. At 20, the trust and its officers are looking back while looking ahead. “It’s a milestone,” Rynd said. “It’s making us take stock and look inward to see what we could do better and what we should be doing differently.” When she began work at Piper Trust, Rynd didn’t imagine she would one day be leading the organization, but she’s thoroughly enjoying the position. “When I wake up, I’m ready to go. I can’t wait to check my e-mail to see what’s happened. I feel so blessed to be able to work with somebody FEBRUARY 2019 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 13