A Legacy of Civic Stewardship
The Edmund Cheney Foundation was established in 1987 by Richmond industrialist Edmund R. Cheney to channel private wealth into lasting public good. Today, under the leadership of Executive Director Catherine Hargrove-Cheney, the foundation continues its founding mission with an expanded portfolio of grant programs serving communities across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Edmund R. Cheney
Founder (1921–2002)
“The measure of prosperity is not what we accumulate, but what we leave standing for those who follow.”
Our Founder: Edmund R. Cheney
Edmund Robert Cheney was born in 1921 in Ashland, Virginia, the son of a railroad machinist and a schoolteacher. After serving as a combat engineer in the European Theater during World War II, Cheney returned to Virginia and enrolled at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech) on the GI Bill, earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1949. He founded Cheney Manufacturing Corporation in 1953, initially producing precision machined components for the aerospace and defense industries, and grew the company into one of central Virginia’s largest private employers over the next three decades.
Cheney’s civic interests extended well beyond his manufacturing business. He served on the boards of the Virginia Historical Society, the Valentine Museum, and the Richmond Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. A lifelong advocate for historic preservation, he led the private fundraising campaign that saved the 1813 Monumental Church on Broad Street from demolition in 1971 and personally underwrote the restoration of several endangered Civil War-era structures in the Shockoe Bottom and Church Hill neighborhoods.
In 1987, motivated by a growing concern that Virginia’s architectural heritage was being lost to commercial redevelopment faster than public agencies could respond, Cheney established the Edmund Cheney Foundation with an initial endowment of $1.2 million from the sale of his non-voting shares in Cheney Manufacturing. He served as the foundation’s first chairman until his passing in 2002, personally reviewing every grant application submitted during those fifteen years. His will directed an additional $4.8 million to the foundation’s endowment, ensuring the permanence of the institution he created.
Executive Director: Catherine Hargrove-Cheney
Catherine Hargrove-Cheney assumed leadership of the Edmund Cheney Foundation in 2014, bringing twelve years of nonprofit management experience and a deep personal connection to the foundation’s mission as the granddaughter of its founder. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where she concentrated in nonprofit strategy and social enterprise, and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the College of William & Mary.
Prior to joining the foundation, Catherine served as Director of Development at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where she managed a $28 million capital campaign and oversaw the museum’s corporate partnership program. She also held program officer positions at the Community Foundation of Greater Richmond and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, gaining direct experience in historic preservation grantmaking, STEM education policy, and disaster relief coordination.
Under Catherine’s leadership, the foundation has expanded its grant portfolio from two program areas (Historic Preservation and Scholarships) to five, added the Emergency Community Relief fund, established the VCU STEM Pipeline Initiative, and increased annual grantmaking disbursements by 40 percent while maintaining the long-term sustainability of the endowment. She serves on the boards of the Virginia Association of Nonprofit Organizations and the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission.
Catherine Hargrove-Cheney
Executive Director, 2014–Present
MBA, UVA Darden · BA, William & Mary
Board of Trustees
Hon. William T. Randolph III
Chairman
Retired Circuit Court Judge, Henrico County. Former president of the Virginia Bar Association. Board member since 1998.
Dr. Susan Park-Mitchell
Vice Chair
Professor Emerita of Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech. National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient. Oversees STEM scholarship evaluation.
Robert M. Cheney
Treasurer
Son of founder Edmund R. Cheney. Managing partner, Cheney Capital Advisors. Oversees the foundation’s endowment investment strategy.
Maria Elena Gutierrez
Secretary
Executive Director, Virginia Latino Advisory Board. Former chief of staff to the Virginia Secretary of Education. Board member since 2018.
James A. Whitfield, AIA
Trustee
Principal, Whitfield Preservation Associates. Licensed preservation architect with 30+ years of experience in Mid-Atlantic heritage conservation.
Rev. Dolores S. Carter
Trustee
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Petersburg. Community organizing leader and longtime advocate for equitable disaster relief access.
Our Guiding Principles
Stewardship
We manage philanthropic resources with the same discipline and transparency we expect from our grantees. Every dollar is accounted for, every outcome is measured.
Community Partnership
We do not impose solutions from above. We partner with local communities to identify their highest-priority needs and co-design investments that reflect local knowledge and priorities.
Enduring Impact
We prioritize projects with demonstrated capacity for long-term sustainability. Structures we preserve, scholars we support, and communities we strengthen must outlast the grant cycle itself.