Born Nancy Jane Piecuch in 1954 to first generation Polish immigrants, Frank and Jane Piecuch. Nancy's birthplace and home was Manchester, New Hampshire where her value of volunteerism took hold. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science and teaching degree. After graduation, Nancy started a family and became a devoted mother of two children, Jeffrey and Meredith. In 1982, the family migrated to Jacksonville, Florida where they have made their home. Continuing with the values instilled in her during childhood, Nancy served on many volunteer boards including the Parent Teacher Associations at her children’s schools and the family’s local parish, Resurrection Church. Her devotion to the Catholic faith has inspired a deep belief in social justice. She has served the community through her support of The Ronald McDonald House, St.Vincent's Hosptial. PACE School for Girls, and Birthright,Inc. Currently Nancy sits on the board at PACE, St. Vincent's Healthcare Foundation where she is the chair the cultivation committee, and Chairman of the Board at The Chartrand Foundation which focuses on equal opportunities for all. Her current residence is in Ponte Vedra Beach , Fl. with her husband of 34 years, Gary.
Gary R. Chartrand is a native of Bedford, New Hampshire and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. After college, he began his career in the consumer products industry with the Carnation Company, where he served in various capacities that culminated in a year term as Assistant District Manager for the State of Florida. He joined Acosta in 1983 as a Business Manager, and subsequently was promoted to Vice President, Regional Vice President of Florida, President, and in January 1996, President and CEO. Under the leadership of Mr. Chartrand, Acosta merged with PMI-Eisenhart in July of 1998 and he became Chairman and CEO Acosta Sales and Marketing Company (one of the largest privately held companies in Jacksonville, Florida) represents 1300 Consumer Package Goods companies in America with annual billings in excess of $60 billion dollars.
Mr. Chartrand has been extremely active in supporting areas of critical need both as CEO of Acosta and personally through The Chartrand Foundation. For twenty years Acosta has implemented a cause marketing campaign that has raised over $70 million dollars for the support of MDA. In 2004 Acosta embarked on a similar campaign to raise money for Americas Second Harvest, the nation's largest food bank network. In 2006 St. Vincent’s Hospital named the Gary and Nancy Chartrand Heart and Vascular Center after receiving the lead gift from Gary and Nancy. The Chartrand Foundation was established to support innovative approaches to education with a focus on the underserved. Gary and his wife Nancy have two children Jeffrey and Meredith and reside in Ponte Vedra , Florida.
Sandra C. Ramsey (Sandy) is the Senior Vice-President Operational Finance for Acosta Sales and Marketing Company. She joined Acosta as Corporate Controller in 1998 and is a Certified Public Accountant with over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance. In addition to her work with the Chartrand Foundation, Sandy has an extensive record of community service through board and committee involvement with Leadership Jacksonville, the Early Learning Coalition of Duval County, the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation and the Junior League of Jacksonville. She is a graduate of West Virginia University.
Jeff Chartrand is the founding Executive Director of The Chartrand Foundation, a family foundation launched in 2006 to support public education and early childhood initiatives. A Jacksonville native, Jeff graduated Magna Cum Laude from New York University. In 2003, he became a New York City Teaching Fellow in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn where he taught fifth-grade special education. Seeing first hand the inequities and disparities of our public education system motivated him to leave the teaching profession and return home to pursue a career in education philanthropy.
Jeff played a key role in the larger efforts to build an education reform infrastructure and bring new resources to Duval County including the effort to attract Teach For America and Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) to Jacksonville as well as bringing together community leaders to reinvent the local public education fund, now called the Jacksonville Public Education Fund. In 2008, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and City Council President Ronnie Fussell appointed Jeff to the Jacksonville Journey Oversight Committee, the city’s historic anti-crime initiative that invests more than $12 million dollars annually into prevention and intervention programs for both children and adults.
Jeff is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville and has participated in the Aspen Institute’s Roundtable on Community Change. Jeff currently serves on the board at The Chartrand Foundation, The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, and is an advisory board member at The Bridge of Northeast Florida and Teach For America Jacksonville. Jeff is the former chairman of Metrics and Measurement subcommittee of the Jacksonville Journey Oversight Committee and the Education Funders Affinity Group for the Florida Philanthropic Network.
Meredith Chartrand Frisch is the Director of Early Childhood Initiatives at The Chartrand Foundation, a foundation launched in 2006 to support public education and early childhood initiatives. A Jacksonville native, Meredith graduated from Florida State University in 2003, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Child Sciences. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she taught art at a Montessori school.
In 2006, Meredith moved back to Jacksonville to help to improve the lives of Jacksonville's children and work with her family in to establish The Chartrand Foundation. She currently serves on the boards of The Chartrand Foundation, Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, Congregation Ahavath Chesed, and The Jacksonville Jewish Foundation. Meredith is a member of the Women’s Giving Alliance. She also participates as a mentor through Communities in School's Take Stock in Children.
Quality early learning experiences are seeds sown for the promise of a strong, academic future.
Read more...Warner chosen from 70 candidates to replace retiring leader Cramer.
Read more...
The Chartrands are deeply committed to ensuring that all children in Jacksonville have access to a quality education, from their earliest years through high school and beyond. They are a valued and dedicated partner in philanthropy.
- Nina Waters, President, The Community Foundation
The Foundation provides valuable support for the Healthy Start coalition to sustain our community outreach and education efforts. This support includes not only financial resources, but also critical guidance that challenged us to move beyond services into advocacy and community-building.
- Carol Brady, Healthy Start Coalition
