Jamestown's CJ Hager elected chair of North Dakota Community Foundation

A Jamestown financial adviser now holds the top volunteer post at one of North Dakota’s biggest charitable organizations, giving Stutsman County a visible voice in statewide philanthropy. CJ Hager was elected to a one-year term as chair of the North Dakota Community Foundation.

The foundation says its 15 board members are elected from across North Dakota and are chosen to represent a broad cross-section of residents. Board members may serve two three-year terms before rotating off, a structure that keeps the leadership spread beyond one city or region. Hager had already been elected to a three-year board term in October 2021, showing that his rise to chair came after several years of involvement with the organization.

That background matters because the North Dakota Community Foundation is not a symbolic group. Incorporated in 1976, it says its mission is to improve the quality of life for North Dakotans through charitable giving and the promotion of philanthropy. The foundation currently administers more than 1,000 charitable funds, including 69 different community foundations across the state.

A 2024 foundation release put the organization’s scale in sharper focus, saying it managed over 900 funds, including 69 community foundations and more than 150 scholarship funds. It also said the foundation held assets in excess of $138 million and had made more than $105 million in grants across North Dakota. Those numbers place the chairmanship well beyond a ceremonial title, even if the position remains volunteer-based.

For Jamestown-area nonprofits and donors, Hager’s election is most significant as a matter of access and visibility. A local leader at the head of a statewide foundation can help keep rural grantmaking, scholarship support and donor engagement in view when charitable dollars are allocated across North Dakota. For Stutsman County groups that depend on foundation grants or want to grow local giving, having a Jamestown resident in that role could make the city’s needs more familiar inside the state’s philanthropic network.

The foundation’s board continued its turnover this spring as well, announcing Jason Anderson of West Fargo to a three-year term in a May 13, 2026 board election release. Hager’s new role now puts Jamestown in the center of that statewide conversation as the foundation continues to steer charitable giving across North Dakota.