Editor’s Note: The Community Foundation’s 2025 financial report included the following spotlight on Robert Hill, a fundholder and past Investment Committee Chair.
Robert Hill was the president and CEO of Acosta Sales & Marketing when he joined the board of The Community Foundation in 2015. As a seasoned executive, Hill saw and appreciated the Foundation as a well-run, innovative business, and has given his time and talent to help grow its assets and relationships.
As a generous donor, he and his wife, Margaret, leveraged the Foundation for their own philanthropy.
Hill’s greatest contribution of time and talent was on the Foundation’s Investment Committee. He served for the duration of his board service, 2015 to 2023, and led the committee as chair from 2017 to 2022. His steady, supportive leadership helped the Foundation navigate many critical junctures: the search and selection of Crewcial Partners as investment advisor; rapidly changing yields on cash investments; and the growth of the Foundation’s Custom Managed Pool (CMP) program.
He often attended quarterly calls with CMP advisors, and he liked to close the call with a word of encouragement for advisors to introduce the Foundation to their charitable clients.
Said George Egan, Investment Committee Chair: “We wouldn’t be where we are today without Robert’s leadership.”
Hill was also a champion for the Foundation’s expansion of impact investing through the Local Capital Pool, which launched in 2018 and has now invested or committed more than $7.3 million.
Beyond volunteer work, the Hills have been generous philanthropists through their donor advised fund and have supported numerous charities in Jacksonville and Tennessee, as well as Foundation initiatives such as the Beaches Community Fund, the Local Capital Pool, and the Nina Waters Nonprofit Leadership Fund. Their philanthropy has set an example for their children, who also hold donor advised funds with the Foundation.
Asked why he chose to invest his time and expertise, Hill pointed to the importance of growing the community’s foundation:
I believed in the leadership of the Foundation. It’s innovative, it’s trustworthy, and it’s making a difference. Supporting it means strengthening the entire community. — Robert Hill