ABOUT US
Tim and his wife, Hayley have been members of FCC for nearly 30 years. He previously served on Akita Council and the Board of Deacons. Currently he serves as the Director of Capital Markets at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which promotes and provides affordable housing to the residents of Ohio. Prior to that, he spent 27 years in the Public Finance field for regional financial institutions. Tim and Hayley have three adult children and one grandchild. He is a graduate of Kenyon College and received a master’s degree from the University of Texas.
Brad Griffith is a lifelong entrepreneur. He grew up working for his dad’s veterinary hospital, learning the joys and challenges of business ownership. He believes in the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to drive meaningful change in our community. Brad is now President of Buckeye Interactive, the web strategy and engineering agency he started in 2009 to provide growing businesses and organizations with unparalleled access to exceptional web engineering and design.
Ralph Griffith and his wife Dotsy have been members of FCC since 1992. He is the CEO and President of Value Recovery Group and its subsidiary, Global Recovery Group, financial services companies with offices in Columbus and the Washington, DC area. His prior business experience encompassed financial advisory and business consulting positions as well as a lender in commercial banks. Ralph is the Finance Committee Chair of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency Board, is a member of the Rotary Club of Upper Arlington, is on the Strategic Initiatives Committee of the Furniture Bank and is a Children’s Leader for Bible Study Fellowship International. He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University.
Leslie Junk grew up at FCC and Camp Akita and became a member in 1991. Her church service includes a Mexico Mission trip, feeding the homeless, Sunday school teacher and Couple Circle member. Recently retired from Nationwide, she spent 25 years training associates on secure cyber security practices and agents on their technology tools. Prior experience includes software sales and sales management at Goal Systems and AT&T. She is the treasurer of Childhood League Board XI and a graduate of Miami University.
Clare and her husband Jim joined the church in 1982. She has served on the Mission Council and as a volunteer Sunday School teacher and is a member of Friendship Circle 28.
Clare’s professional career included over 30 years of public service. She served as Senior Attorney with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the Washington, D.C. and Columbus offices, as Chief Legal Counsel for the Ohio Department of Commerce and was a Deputy Tax Commissioner overseeing the legislative, tax analysis, fiscal, human resources and training offices at the Ohio Department of Taxation. She also served as Deputy Director of the Human Resources Division at the Ohio Department of Administrative Services where she developed and administered the human resources program for the State of Ohio. She retired from the State as Director of Human Resources at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.
Currently, Clare is serving in the volunteer role of AARP Ohio State President.
Dave Nickel and his wife, Jennie, have been members of First Community church for over 25 years. Dave recently served as Chair of the Adult Learning Council for three consecutive years. He earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University with a double major in higher education administration and chemistry. He has both taught and served in leadership roles for over 20 years in several universities, including The Ohio State University, other central Ohio universities, and Wuhan and Huazhong Agricultural Universities in Wuhan, China. He also worked for 20 years with Goodyear and Lockheed Martin Corporations as head of and senior trainer of the leadership and management development program. Additionally, Dave also (add that word in also, please) worked as an internal organizational development consultant there. (add that word in also). Dave is a graduate and former practitioner of the Wellstreams ecumenically oriented spiritual direction program.
Katie Ocasio joined First Community in 2020 following a lengthy search for a new church home. Katie is a native of Columbus and a graduate of The Ohio State University in International Studies. She is currently a Relationship Manager with the Community Shelter Board in Columbus where she is responsible for cultivating individual donors, growing the planned giving program, and managing sponsorships and annual giving.
Nancy joined the Foundation Board in 2020. During her career in association management she helped establish the Ohio Dental Association Foundation and the Ohio Society of Association Management Foundation. As a volunteer she has been active in development work for The Wesley Communities and The Columbus Rotary Club. Her church service includes serving on the Adult Education Council, Mission Council and feeding the homeless.
Larry has been a member of FCC since 1974. His involvement roles at FCC have included deacon, usher, nominating committee, Wednesday men’s group (40+ years), Finance Council Board and Counseling Center Board. He currently is an auctioneer doing personal property, charity, and real estate auctions (21 years). Additionally, he is the Commissioner and past chair of the Ohio Auction Commission. Other work experience includes being an independent manufacturers rep in the home fashion industry (38 years). Larry’s board involvement includes Big Brother Big Sisters of Franklin County, past president.
Darian has been a member of First Community Church since 2006. Since that time, she has served the Church as a Deacon, as well as on the Service Board, Spiritual Searcher Committee, Adult Learning Council, Women’s Retreat Committee, and the Women’s Guild.
Darian is retired from The Ohio State University where she was a Grants and Contracts Specialist for the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Research Administration Department. Prior to that, she supported the OSU College of Medicine as Grants Facilitator. In 2015-2016, she served as the First Community Foundation’s Administrator. She is currently a member of the OSU Retirees Association Fall Conference Planning Committee and is the Area Coordinator for the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Central Ohio.
Katherine and her husband Mark joined the church in 2002. She is currently a leader of Prayers & Squares Ministry and participates in the Knitting for Refugees group. She served on the Stewardship committee for the 2019 campaign. In addition, she was a volunteer Sunday School teacher when her daughter was in elementary school. She has served as a Troop Leader, Service Unit Manager, Service Unit Treasurer and Day Camp Manager with Girl Scouts. She volunteered extensively for Upper Arlington Crew, including two years as Treasurer. Since 2014, she has been, along with her sister, the Donor Advisors for a fund with the Foundation started by her father. She is a retired Air Force Intelligence Officer, having served 20 years on active duty and 9 years in various civilian senior intelligence management positions at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Dayton.
Seth Stearns is Executive Director of Operations and Director of First Community Foundation.
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