Donna Gambrell, President & CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, Announces Retirement

July 2025

Christiansburg, VA, [July 11, 2025] – Donna Gambrell, President and CEO of Appalachian Community Capital (ACC), has announced plans to retire at the end of 2025. Ms. Gambrell has served as ACC’s President and CEO since May 2017.

In 2013, the Appalachian Regional Commission made a lead investment in ACC of $3.45 million in equity and operating support. In ACC’s start-up phase, the organization raised $12 million in investments.  Under her leadership, ACC–a CDFI wholesale intermediary–has grown from a start-up to a high-performing, mission-driven financial institution. Its membership has expanded from 12 to 41 community lenders, which now includes regional and national CDFI members. The members, whose assets under management total $3.5 billion, have used ACC capital to finance small businesses, renewable energy projects, manufacturing sites, elder care facilities, restaurants, and ecotourism, among other projects.