The Legacy Builder
Darlene Bolyard
Executive Director of Arthurdale Heritage
Darlene Bolyard is an Arthurdale native who is invested in bettering her community. After a successful business career in which she lived abroad for many years, she came home to visit her parents, and she decided it was time to pay it forward to her home state. “I moved back to West Virginia and started doing lots of volunteer work, and I realized how much joy that brought me,” she says. “To me, my life is about making a difference.”
Six years ago, Bolyard jumped at the chance to become executive director of Arthurdale Heritage, the nation’s first New Deal homestead community, because she believed her strong business background could be an asset to the small nonprofit dedicated to preserving Arthurdale’s rich history.
“I wanted to find a place where I could leave my legacy, and this place is a wonderful place to do that,” Bolyard says. “I want to be remembered for leaving the world a better place than I found it.”
She’s currently working to make Arthurdale Heritage financially independent with sustainable cash flow. When not in the office, Bolyard is passionate about animal rescue and loves nothing more than traveling the world.
Written by Megan huff
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