New Foundation Board President challenges parents, community to get more involved
Olen Crane has a simple ask for parents and community leaders at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School: Don’t sit on the sidelines. Instead, come participate in key events throughout the academic year.
As Crane takes over as chair of the school’s Foundation Board, he hopes to build on the connections that make the school community strong – bringing parents, alumni, business leaders and other community members together at the school and at events.
The pandemic made virtual meetings and remote participation a normal part of life, but Crane believes gathering face-to-face generates immeasurable value. “Zoom makes everything really easy,” he noted, “but Zoom also prevents people from really connecting on an individual basis.”
That emphasis on connection reflects Crane’s own path to the Foundation.
His son, Winston, graduated from MLWGS in 2025 and is now in his second year at the University of Texas at Austin. His daughter, Berkeley, is a member of the Class of 2028. Both have played varsity soccer and participated in Japan Bowl, while Winston was also a member of the 2025 We the People team and participated in the Foundation-supported Power of Story senior seminar, including a trip to Paris.
For Crane, involvement in his children’s schools has always been part of being a parent. Before MLWGS, both children attended Mary Munford Elementary and Albert Hill Middle schools, where he was active in the Parent-Teacher Associations. He’s now dedicated more than a decade to serving through PTAs, booster organizations and other school groups.
“I’ve always felt it’s very important to give back to the schools where my kids attend,” he said.
At Maggie Walker, that involvement included three years with the athletic boosters before Crane joined the Foundation’s Governance Committee. His professional experience with contracts, negotiations and governance made the committee a natural fit. After a year on the committee and serving as its chair, he was asked to step into the Foundation’s top board role.
Working together for MLWGS
Crane sees an important opportunity in the coming year to strengthen coordination among the Foundation, school administration, PTSA and booster organizations. His goal is to work closely with Kristin Janssen, the school’s executive director, to better understand the school’s financial needs and determine how various organizations can support that need.
“How do we work together collectively as an Administration, as a Foundation, as a group of volunteer boards to continue to make Maggie Walker the best it can be, and provide the optimal and fantastic educational experience for each of the students?” he said.
Transparency and clarity are central to his mission, including creating more opportunities for people to sit down together, understand each organization’s priorities and develop a clearer framework for collaboration.
But Crane’s invitation extends well beyond those already serving on the board and in booster groups, as well as those who are generous donors.
To the entire MLWGS community, he says, “we really need your presence. We really need your connections.”
That means parents, certainly, but also alumni, local businesses, family members and community supporters. In particular, he calls out one of his favorite events, the annual Night of the Dragon, scheduled for Feb. 20.
For Crane, the event is about far more than fundraising. The evening offers a chance to see students perform, learn what clubs are doing and connect with other members of the Maggie Walker community in a relaxed setting.
“I encourage everybody to come out and recognize that it’s not just about fundraising,” he said. “It really is about connecting with the school in a different way.”
That connection, Crane believes, ultimately strengthens the opportunities available to students. While the federal government does not provide the school any funding, the Foundation steps in with financial support for student needs, academic competitions, travel, teacher development and more that deliver the “extras” that underpin the school’s high-caliber educational experience.
“The school does a lot with limited resources,” he said. Contributions of time, expertise and financial support help the school continue creating the distinctive environment in which its students thrive.
Meet three of our other new board members
Get to know three of our four new board members (#4 to be introduced next month):
Mary Nedell, whose son, Conor, is in the Class of 2029. The family is from Chesterfield County.
What do parents and alums need to know about the Foundation? As a new parent to MLWGS last year, I was so excited to learn about the Foundation and that it supports both students and faculty, helping our entire Dragon community to grow and learn in truly amazing ways.
Favorite program/tradition: Men’s volleyball! Our son is on the team, and we have loved getting to know his teammates and their families through the sport.
Kendra Wergin, a 2003 alum who recently returned to Richmond after living abroad.
What brought you to serve as a board member? I have a very clear sense of how a rich Maggie Walker experience can shape the rest of your life. While I was at Maggie Walker, I studied French and Spanish, participated in Model UN, and traveled to Italy on my first trip abroad; I went on to be the president of my college’s Model UN team, teach high school Spanish for two years, and spend more than eight years in France. I am so grateful for how my Maggie Walker experience laid the groundwork for so many subsequent formative experiences and excited to have this opportunity now to help provide those to more students.
How the Foundation makes an impact: The Foundation’s support of international travel for students is so important. It’s not possible to overstate how much that trip to Italy in 2002 changed my life. I ended up spending more than a decade living in Europe as the result of realizing during that trip that I wanted to move abroad! The new experiences and perspectives that come with international travel should be available to all students.
Favorite program/tradition: Both the Italy trip and the Model UN program were very important to me, along with the emphasis on studying languages. All have served me very well in my higher education and in my career.
Qi Liu of Chesterfield County is chairing the Foundation’s Finance Committee. She has twin students in the Class of 2028.
Your individual skill or talent you bring to the Foundation: As a CPA with deep experience in financial analysis and governance, I bring a clear, disciplined perspective to the Finance Committee, with a goal to help strengthen the Foundation’s financial health and support long-term stability.
How the Foundation makes an impact: The Foundation exists to strengthen the school’s long-term stability by funding opportunities the operating budget alone can’t support. I’ve seen that mission come alive through targeted grants that directly improve teaching and learning experiences. I always think that teachers are the core of the school’s mission because they turn vision into reality through daily, direct impact on students. We should improve teacher enhancement spending by focusing on impact, accountability and making the dollars work harder for teachers.
What do parents and alums need to know about the Foundation? The Foundation isn’t just a valuable complement to the school’s budget: It’s the engine that allows the school to thrive beyond the limits of its annual budget. Supporting it is one of the most direct ways to strengthen the school for today’s students – and tomorrow’s.
Favorite program/tradition: The cultural fall festivals and multi-language celebrations show how globally minded and inclusive the MLWGS community is, and they give students a chance to share who they are.