Knight Foundation program director Beverly Blake to retire

Beverly Blake, Macon’s program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is retiring June 30 after more than a decade on the job.

“It’s been such a privilege to be able to meet and get to know and work with so many different people in Macon,” Blake said Wednesday afternoon.

Blake, 63, started working in December 2004 as one of Knight’s 10 community liaisons who are primary grant-making officers in the 26 communities served by the private independent grant-making foundation. Though she was allowed to stay in Atlanta, where she had been a senior vice president and senior charitable adviser at Wachovia’s Charitable Funds Management Group, Blake said she decided to move to Macon in 2005.

“When I first moved here, I would say I didn’t really know what direction (Macon) might be headed, and now I’m positive it’s headed in the right direction,” said Blake, who calls West Virginia home. “Everybody in Macon has a part to play in Macon’s future. ... Shortly after I got here, I realized that if we don’t do it, no one is going to do it. And everybody stepped up. I think that’s the beauty of this place now ... that so many people step up.”

Blake led efforts to establish the College Hill Alliance, which is credited with the development of Mercer Village, the continued revitalization of the Beall’s Hill neighborhood and improvements to Tattnall Square Park with an initial $2 million investment from the Knight Foundation, according to a news release from the foundation. The alliance recently transformed into an all-volunteer commission that includes residents living between Mercer University and downtown.

Blake, who also oversees the foundation’s efforts in Milledgeville and Columbus, said she’s proud of helping advance the Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism. The CCJ, located in Mercer Village, is the first partnership of its kind in the country and is made up of The Telegraph, Georgia Public Broadcasting and Mercer’s journalism department.

Blake also developed both the Knight Neighborhood Challenge and the Knight Cities Challenge, according to the release. Those initiatives resulted in permanent public art and lasting events, such as the “i love macon” sculpture on Forsyth Street, the revival of the Magnolia Soap Box Derby and Second Sunday concerts at Washington Park. These efforts, in partnership with others, have resulted in more than $100 million in private and public investment in Macon since 2009, the release said.

Blake’s involvement in Macon extends beyond her work with the Knight Foundation. She is a member of the Downtown Macon Rotary Club, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, the Georgia Cities Foundation and the Board of Trust of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia.

Blake plans to move to Amelia Island, Florida to be closer to her parents. Before embarking on a new adventure, Blake said, “I’m taking a break for a while ... but I’m open and receptive to what’s next.”

Mayor Robert Reichert said Blake “will certainly be missed.”

“She and the Knight Foundation have had a prominent role in all of the positive developments that have occurred in Macon,” Reichert said. “She was a constant source of energy and enthusiasm for many of the projects that have really taken root and created a positive influence in the community.”

The foundation is accepting applications for a new program director. Interested candidates are asked to email recruiter@knightfoundation.org.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Knight Foundation program director Beverly Blake to retire."