Staff
Tami Farinholt
Executive Director
Tami assumed the role of Executive Director of the Newport News Green Foundation in July 2016. A lifelong resident of Newport News, Tami still can’t believe that her “job” gives her the opportunity to marry her personal passion for the community with her responsibilities to truly make an impact in the city that raised her.
An experienced community organizer, Tami began her career in Higher Education, serving in Residence Life at Christopher Newport University before spending over ten years in various community engagement roles at Old Dominion University.
Tami Farinholt
Executive Director
Jillian Balay
Marketing and Outreach Coordinator
Jillian Balay
Marketing and Outreach Coordinator
Jillian began her career in marketing in Higher Education at The Pennsylvania State University before taking over as the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the Newport News Green Foundation in 2022.
Jillian manages marketing and communication for the Newport News Green Foundation. She creates marketing strategies, designs graphics, and coordinates content to support the Green Foundation’s mission to preserve, transform, and promote green spaces in Newport News, Virginia.
Board Directory
Joe Balay, Vice President
Christopher Newport University
Aisha Perez, Resource Chair
RE/MAX CONNECT
Michael Poplawski
City of Newport News - Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
Macon Whitson
City of Newport News-IDA/EDA
Governance
The Newport News Green Foundation is governed by an all-volunteer board of directors comprised of citizens and business representatives of Newport News, a representative of the Industrial Development Authority, the City Manager (or designee), and the City’s Director of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (or designee).
The work of the foundation is done by standing committees and supported by a full time Executive Director. The current standing committees of the Foundation are the Property Committee and Resource Committee.
The Property Committee oversees the maintenance of the Foundation’s properties as well as the acquisition of new properties.
The Resource Committee is responsible for finding additional resources for the Foundation. It oversees special events, fundraising, and all our outreach programming.
