The East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation (EGRSF) has hired an advocate for public education with deep ties to the community to be its next Executive Director.
Amy Turner-Thole, who has served as a trustee of the East Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education since 2021, will lead the Foundation at an exciting time. The EGRSF has the largest endowment of any public school foundation in Michigan, and is in the midst of a multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment to the major renovation of East Grand Rapids High School set to begin in June 2026. Turner-Thole is resigning from the Board of Education to take on her new role.
Turner-Thole is a strategy and communications consultant for local non-profit organizations, helping lead the Ready by Five Early Childhood Millage campaign in Kent County among other impactful work for the community. She and her husband Nick are the parents of two recent EGRHS graduates: Alex, who graduated in 2024, and Lauren, who graduated last spring.
As EGRSF Executive Director, Turner-Thole replaces Amy Stuursma, who spent 17 years in the position.
“We are fortunate in our community to find the right leaders at the right time,” said Amy Knape, president of the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation Board. “Amy Stuursma led the Foundation through unprecedented growth and opportunity. I am excited to see where Amy Turner-Thole can take us now as we embark on a new high school, navigate uncertainty in public funding, and continue to find innovative ways to support our teachers and students. She is an exceptional community leader who has always advocated for our public schools. And I am confident she is the leader the Foundation needs right now.”
EGRPS Superintendent Dr. Heidi Kattula says Turner-Thole is uniquely qualified to lead the EGRSF. “Amy is a champion of public education who understands the challenges facing our district through her time on the Board of Education and volunteering in our schools,” she says. “She is also an outstanding communicator who will draw from her experience with local non-profits to drive the Foundation forward.”
Turner-Thole will start in her new position September 29, in time to participate in the fall round of classroom enhancement grants the Foundation Board will consider in October.
“Every single student in East Grand Rapids Public Schools benefits daily from investments the community has made through the Foundation. It may be books or technology, robotics, the school musical, or a class where you build your own surfboard,” says Turner-Thole. “I’m excited to build on the tremendous success of the Foundation. We have exciting days ahead of us with the new high school and potential challenges with uncertainty in state funding. Together we will ensure we meet the evolving needs of our students and help ignite their passions.”
The Foundation has been helping EGRPS students since 1983. This school year, the Foundation will provide more than $700,000 to the district. Thanks to its donors, over the course of students’ time in EGRPS from kindergarten through graduation, the Foundation will contribute more than $6 million to their education.
