CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY)—The West Virginia First Foundation’s first executive director has officially been appointed.
The West Virginia First Foundation is the organization that was created by the West Virginia Legislature to oversee the distribution of roughly $1 billion in settlement money from opioid companies.
Jonathan Board will now take the reins of the foundation. He is from Marion County and was the vice president of Strategic Initiatives for the Mon Health System.
“West Virginia has to heal from the inside out, and we understand that as this crisis moves and pivots,” Board said. “Let’s be clear, the West Virginia First Foundation must persist for years and years to come.”
Board was also running to represent the 13th District in the state senate. He will withdraw from that bid to focus on his new duties as executive director.
He was already named the foundation’s Region 4 representative, representing 13 counties in the northern part of the state. A new representative will take his place.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office will provide any assistance that his office can provide.
“My role now is to just help the foundation as much as possible,” Morrisey said. “I think this is a major step forward because you had a lot of really good people on the board… It’s challenging because they met for the first time and then a lot was thrust upon them. It makes such a difference to have an executive director in place.”
