Popular Outsider Will Head Foundation

By Katherine Cromer Brock, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Jun. 27–Don Johnston lives in Southlake.

His five children graduated from Carroll schools, and he’s on the board of directors of the Carroll Education Foundation.

But members of the Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation knew commitment when they saw it.

Johnston, 53, was recently named president of the board of Grapevine-Colleyville’s foundation, a position that doesn’t have a residency requirement, he said.

“I believe in education,” said Johnston, a senior area manager for Citibank. His office is in Bedford. “However, we as good citizens can contribute to the schools; we need to do it.”

Johnston is a past president of the Colleyville Rotary Club and a member of the Colleyville Chamber of Commerce board. He joined the Grapevine-Colleyville foundation in 2002.

“He’s worked very diligently to develop partnerships with the community,” said Janice Kane, executive director of the foundation. “He’s really devoted to education; it doesn’t matter where he’s living.”

Johnston said his goal is to build on the $1 million in assets that the foundation reached last year, and to continue giving grants to teachers for innovative programs or for classroom supplies not covered in the budget.

Johnston’s involvement with the “other” district has been fodder for some good-natured ribbing.

“We do not allow him to wear anything green, or pull in the driveway for meetings with a green flag on his car,” Kane said, referring to the school colors in the Carroll district.

Johnston also has a connection to another Northeast Tarrant County district — his wife, Carolyn, is a librarian at Roanoke Elementary School in the Northwest district.

“The whole area is endowed with great schools,” Johnston said. “The school system is an investment. The returns will be that we will have better students, and hopefully, they’ll come back and strengthen the community.”

Don Johnston

Age: 53

Hometown: Southlake

Occupation: Senior area manager, Citibank

Family: Wife, Carolyn, and five grown children

Community involvement: President of the Grapevine-Colleyville Education Foundation; board member of the Carroll Education Foundation; past president of the Colleyville Rotary Club; board member of the Colleyville Chamber of Commerce

——

Katherine Cromer Brock, 817-685-3813 kcromer@star-telegram.com

—–

To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:C,