When newly named St. Croix Valley Community Foundation President Jane Hetland Stevenson was offered the opportunity to lead the non-profit organization earlier this month, she had to pinch herself.

"I thought it was my dream job," she said.

Stevenson has taken over the reigns of the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation (SCVCF) from David H. Griffith, who retired after seven years as president. The SCVCF is a charitable non-profit organization that helps individuals, families, businesses and private foundations through grants that support the arts, and health, religious, environmental, civic, education and human service causes.

The foundation, established in 1995, serves five counties that border the St. Croix River - three in Wisconsin and two in Minnesota.

In the past year, the foundation's assets have grown considerably, from $10 million to $15 million; and since its inception, the SCVCF increased the amount of grants awarded from under $50,000 a year to about $2 million last year.

"We often look at balance sheet and how much money we have in the bank, but I want to underscore that we are more than a charitable investment bank," Griffith said. "There's been a significant growth of grants we have awarded on annual basis ... and that's really important to us."

In stepping down from the foundation, Griffith said he looks to spend more time with his three adult children and three grandchildren (a fourth is on the way). He also plans to research the history of early Minnesota statehood. Still, the St. Paul resident hopes to be involved in some capacity with the Valley area.

"My time at the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation was among the most rewarding and satisfying in my entire career and entire life," Griffith said. "I think the foundation is really poised to grow and thrive I think it has a wonderful future before it."

Stevenson agreed that the SCVCF is still coming into its own.

"I believe that it's only beginning - we have a wonderful spirit of community in this Valley," she said.

For the past 15 years Stevenson has resided in Phoenix. But from 1989 through 1994, she was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota; from 1979 to 1989, she worked for the state of Minnesota, first as a senior planning officer in the Minnesota State Planning Agency, and then as executive director of the Governor's Rural Development Council.

"I could not wait to come back because of this feeling of community, even on days like today," she said, referencing the frigid temperatures of late. "One of things I learned living in Phoenix, Ariz., was that there are a lot more important things than weather."

Stevenson said one her first initiatives will be raising the public consciousness of the SCVCF throughout the St. Croix Valley.

"The St. Croix Valley Community Foundation is probably the Valley's best kept secret," she said. "The more people learn about us, the more good work we'll be able to do."

Both Griffith and Stevenson praised the board of directors and the foundation's "lean" staff, which includes only two full-time employees and three part-time employees.

Jill Shannon, the foundation's director of community partnerships, said it has been "fabulous" working with Griffith, who she characterized as a committed leader. She has been with the SCVCF for the past four years, and expects Stevenson will bring her own expertise to build on the groundwork that has already been established.

"It's been a real pleasure working with David, and based on my interactions with Jane thus far, it's really been quite a pleasure and equal joy to work with her," she said.