Paula Van Ness

Interview by Seth Allen

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I met with Paula Van Ness at Le Buzz - a cute little coffee bistro on Swan Road (if you've never been, check it out!). We enjoyed a wonderful conversation over coffee and baked goods. The twice-retired world traveler bought a condo in Tucson in 2011 and has made Tucson her permanent home, retiring for the first time in 2018. Her career is mind boggingly amazing. I could probably write a full=page newspaper article, but y'all get the Readers Digest condensed version! Meet your new Church Council Chairperson, Paula Van Ness. 

ME: Where were you born and raised?
PVN: Indianapolis, Indiana. The heartland of America. It's green with nice people. A good school district. The Indy 500. Kind of an Ozzie and Harriet kind of place. Exciting times.

ME: Where did you go to college?
PVN: I was going to go to Indiana University like all of my classmates, but during March of my senior year in high school, I was sitting with my father at the kitchen table. I told him I wanted to try something different. He knew if I went to IU, I would never leave Indiana. My dad was amazing. He understood and he supported me. I applied to the University of Colorado-Boulder, ASU and the U of A. I came to the U of A.

ME: What did you study?
PVN: I graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1974 with a Bachelor or Science in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, and Family Relations. I received my Masters in 1984 from the University of San Francisco.

ME: Did you teach?
PVN: I spent 11 or 12 years in leadership positions with Family Planning and Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles, Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona, and Lutheran Social Services. 

ME: After you got your master's degree, what happened?
PVN: I became the CEO for AIDS Project Los Angeles. Then the Director for the National AIDS Information & Education Program at US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

ME: Really? The CDC? I am awestruck!
PVN: I was the founding president and CEO of the National AIDS Fund in DC. It was the Ford Foundation's US AIDS Initiative.

ME: Having the benefit of your resume, you have been CEO everywhere and you've lived everywhere; Tucson, LA, Atlanta, DC, New York, DC, Phoenix, LA, New York, Connecticut, and back to Tucson.
PVN: I retired for the first time from the Connecticut Community Foundation in Waterbury after 6 years. I retired on December 14, 2017. At 9:30 the next morning I was in Miami waiting to go on a cruise. I was gone for 5 months. I came home to Tucson and 6 months later I was working part-time for a year at the Community Foundation here. Then full-time. I just retired for the second time on January 3rd. I'll start consulting for them on January 6th.