SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Central New York Community Foundation has named Kristi Eck as its new Chief Innovation & Growth Officer, a senior leadership role focused on advancing organizational growth, strengthening strategic partnerships and guiding innovative initiatives that support long-term regional impact across Central New York. Her start date will be July 13.
Eck brings more than 20 years of cross-sector leadership experience spanning higher education, workforce innovation, nonprofit leadership and public-private partnerships. Throughout her career, she has built and scaled collaborative initiatives that connect institutional strategy with community and economic growth.
“Kristi understands this moment in Central New York in a deep and meaningful way,” said Melanie Littlejohn, president and CEO of Central New York Community Foundation. “She brings the kind of collaborative leadership, strategic vision and authentic relationship-building that our community needs right now. Her experience bringing together partners across sectors, combined with her unwavering commitment to this region and its people, makes her an incredible addition to our leadership team as we continue building opportunity and long-term impact together.”
As Chief Innovation & Growth Officer, Eck will provide executive oversight for the Central New York Innovation and Growth Initiative’s federally supported workforce development partnership with Micron, CenterState CEO and the Idaho Workforce Development Council. She will also work closely with the Foundation’s leadership team to advance innovation, policy engagement and cross-sector collaboration throughout the region.
Eck most recently served as assistant vice president for workforce innovation and external relations at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego, where she launched and led the university’s Office of Workforce Innovation and External Relations. In that role, she oversaw initiatives designed to align workforce development, higher education and regional economic priorities across Central New York.
Prior to that role, Eck served for a decade as SUNY Oswego’s chief of staff, where she guided institutional strategy, government relations, accreditation and executive operations. She also served as principal investigator and project director for SUNY Oswego’s Instructor Bootcamp, a more than $340,000 Empire State Development-funded initiative designed to prepare professionals from high-demand industries to become workforce training instructors across New York state.
Earlier in her career, Eck held leadership roles with Say Yes Syracuse, where she developed and expanded initiatives supporting educational opportunity and student success.
In 2023, Eck was named by Governor Kathy Hochul and Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra as one of 15 community stakeholders appointed to the Central New York Community Engagement Committee. Her additional regional leadership service has included the Oswego County Workforce Development Board, Micron Future-Ready Workforce Innovation Consortium, Oswego County Micron Strategy Steering Committee, WCNY Community Advisory Board and several other community and workforce-focused initiatives.
“I am honored to join the Community Foundation at such a transformational time for our region,” said Eck. “The Foundation has long played an important role in bringing people together around shared purpose and meaningful change. I look forward to working alongside community partners, donors, nonprofit organizations and regional leaders to help strengthen opportunity, innovation and long-term prosperity for Central New York.”
Eck holds a bachelor’s degree from Colby College and a master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College. She also completed the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a graduate of Leadership Greater Syracuse and was recognized as a 40 Under Forty honoree in Central New York.
