Community Foundation Announces Promotions

Congratulations to our recently promoted Community Foundation staff members!

The Central New York Community Foundation has promoted Jan Lane to Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Dana Lyons-Canty has been promoted to Scholarships and Student Support Officer for the Community Foundation and Say Yes Syracuse, Pragya S. Murphy has been promoted to Senior Philanthropic Advisor, and Ahmeed Turner has been promoted to Vice President, Scholarships and Student Support in addition to his role as the Executive Director of Say Yes Syracuse.

Jan Lane has been promoted to Senior Philanthropic Advisor after serving in her previous role as Development Officer for five years. Jan leads the ongoing fostering and facilitation of the Community Foundation’s legacy planning services, which honor the charitable intent of legacy fund donors and preserves their legacies after they are gone. She also provides charitable planning services for individuals, families and nonprofit organizations in the Central New York region. Jan is a former board member of the Syracuse Improv Collective and new mom to a six-month-old.

Dana Lyons-Canty has been promoted to Scholarships and Student Support Officer for the Community Foundation and Say Yes Syracuse after serving in her previous role for over 3 years. Dana focuses on providing opportunities that cultivate a scholarship culture that is more interactional and less transactional. She is passionate about changing lives and providing proper resources and emotional support for individual success.

Pragya S. Murphy has been promoted to Senior Philanthropic Advisor after serving in her previous role as Development Officer for 3 years. Pragya leads professional advisor outreach and provides charitable planning services for individuals and families. In her new role, Pragya will be leading the cultivation and facilitation of nonprofit agency funds. She is highly engaged in local nonprofits in various ways including serving on the advisory board of WISE Women’s Business Center for over 5 years. She also recently joined the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-CNY) Board of Directors.

Ahmeed Turner has been promoted to Vice President, Scholarships and Student Support in addition to his role as the Executive Director of Say Yes Syracuse, which he has held for 5 years. As the Executive Director of Say Yes Syracuse, Ahmeed is responsible for ensuring that all eligible students receive Say Yes to Education scholarships. Additionally, in his new role, Ahmeed will manage the Community Foundation’s many scholarships while providing college admissions and financial aid support to students and their families.

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