Sheila Bargaheiser, Grants & Operations Coordinator
Sheila Bargaheiser joined the Stranahan Foundation as an administrative assistant in May 2016. In her role, she assists in the day-to-day operations of the Foundation and provides administrative support in the areas of event/meeting planning, meeting material development, accounts payable, family engagement, and external communications.
Prior to joining the foundation, Sheila was a program coordinator for Diabetes Youth Services, a non-profit organization based in Maumee, Ohio. She worked alongside the program director to provide educational and supportive services for young people with diabetes, their families, schools, and communities.
Hillary Beuschel, Program Director
Hillary Beuschel joined the foundation as a program officer in January 2021. Currently, she serves in a staff leadership role for a number of the Foundation’s grantmaking committees and manages a grant portfolio that consists primarily of early childhood education and environmental organizations.
Prior to joining the Stranahan Foundation, Beuschel worked as a senior program officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation where her main responsibilities included designing and leading the Entrepreneurship Team’s grantmaking, budgeting, annual planning, training, and reflective learning processes and protocols. Earlier, she served as a program officer at The H&R Block Foundation and the Marion & Henry Bloch Family Foundation. She began her career as a senior nonprofit specialist at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.
Breta Cooper, Executive Director
Breta joined the Stranahan Foundation as Executive Director in August 2022. In this role, her core responsibilities include leading and aligning the day-to-day operations with the Foundation's mission and values; working with the Board to define and implement the Foundation’s vision and strategy; and engaging the more than 200 family members residing across the country in the family’s philanthropic efforts.
Breta began her career in philanthropy at the Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation, a family foundation based in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1996. During her 25-year tenure, she progressed through the organization and ultimately became Executive Vice President where she managed the operational, financial, and administrative activities of the Foundation including grantmaking programs, strategic planning, budgeting, and staff management. Just prior to joining the Stranahan Foundation, Breta was Executive Director of the VIA Institute on Character, a global non-profit social enterprise dedicated to advancing the science and practice of character.
To view a recent press release of her hire, please click here.
Rachel McDonald, Program Officer
Rachel McDonald joined the foundation as a program officer in June of 2024. In her role she engages with both grantee organizations and family members to support the foundation’s grantmaking across all program and geographic areas.
Prior to joining the Stranahan Foundation, Rachel was a Farmer Outreach Associate at American Farmland Trust; she delivered programming and funding opportunities to farmers and coordinated regenerative agriculture and farm vitality projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. Her experience in philanthropy began at the Posner Foundation in Pittsburgh, PA, where she assisted in grantmaking and grant management, with a particular focus on food system and environment grants.
Heidi McPheeters, Program Officer
Heidi McPheeters joined the foundation as a program and grants associate in June 2023. In her role, she supports a number of the Foundation’s grantmaking processes, helps to manage the grants management system, and partners with grantmaking committees.
Prior to joining the Stranahan Foundation, McPheeters worked as a program manager for the Institute for Foundation and Donor Learning at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University where her main responsibilities were managing The Grantmaking School and developing LearnPhilanthropy Academy to support and train foundation professionals. She began her career in philanthropy in 2005 as a research associate with the United Way of Greater St. Louis.