Wendy Owens

Wendy Burtner Owens, Treasurer,

C3 Board of Directors.

Wendy first heard of C3 when she was managing the CarMax corporate foundation. She was approached by a group of committed folks who wanted her help to engage, connect and strengthen Richmond’s creative community.  The foundation funded the new organization and five years
later, she is the Treasurer of the board of directors of C3. “I consider Richmond my adopted hometown," Owens says. She sees C3 as an integral part of the community development puzzle for Richmond. Creativity, innovation, fresh new ideas are important to keeping a community alive and engaged.

As Treasurer of C3, Wendy leans heavily on her 20 years of experience in nonprofit management to make sure that C3 is fiscally responsible, transparent and financially sound. She enjoys working with the others on the board to develop programs that are meaningful and help promote
Richmond as a creative community.

Most recently, Wendy was the COO of Comfort Zone Camp, where she grew the organization from very small and local to a $4 million nonprofit with 4 offices around the country. Prior to Comfort Zone, she was the founding manager of the CarMax Corporate Foundation – where she
developed, implemented and managed a number of corporate contributions programs. In this role, Wendy worked closely with national and local charities to further the CarMax Foundation’s mission of supporting the communities where their associates live and work.

Wendy spent five years at GuideStar, a nonprofit that publishes information about nonprofit organizations in the United States, specifically the IRS Forms 990. There she managed the business development, product development, and marketing strategy for the private foundation and individual donor markets, as well as the fundraising strategy overall. In her early career, Wendy worked with a number of charities serving children, youth and families.

She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services Administration from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In addition to her volunteer work with C3, Wendy serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of Beyond Boobs!, a breast cancer survivor support organization. Prior community involvement includes board and/or committee positions with Youth Matters (Richmond, VA), Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, Williamsburg Community Trust, Child Development Resources (Williamsburg, VA), YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh and Stand for Children Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA).