Mariam Noland

Retired President,
Community Foundation for SE Michigan
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Mariam C. Noland became the founding president of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, in 1985. Upon her retirement in 2022 the Foundation had grown to over $1 Billion in assets and had more than $1 Billion in grants to nonprofit organizations throughout Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, St. Clair and Livingston counties.

Ms. Noland has had extensive experience leading community foundations. She joined the staff of the Cleveland Foundation in 1975 where she served as program officer and secretary/treasurer. In 1981, she became vice president of the Saint Paul Foundation, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Prior to her work in the foundation field, Noland was on staff at Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, and Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio.

She currently serves on the boards of trustees of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership. She previously served on the boards of the Downtown Detroit Partnership Inc., the Bipartisan Policy Center 9 in Washington DC, Independent Sector, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. She previously served as the vice chair, board of trustees, Henry Ford Health System. Noland also chaired the board of trustees for the Council of Michigan Foundations and served as vice chair of the board of trustees of the Council of Foundations.

She was named 2015 Michiganian of the Year by The Detroit News and received the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award. She was also honored with the 2010 Women and Leadership in the Workplace Award and the “Others” Award of the Salvation Army.

Ms. Noland obtained her Ed.M. from Harvard University and her Bachelor of Science from Case Western Reserve University. She and her husband, James A. Kelly, live in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

Plenary panelist: Centering Place