Dedicated to amplifying impactful work in Lancaster.

Our Foundation

Community advocate and lifelong educator Carole Haas Gravagno has never hesitated to roll up her sleeves for the benefit of the community she calls home. After her career as a teacher, Carole dedicated her time to cultural activism, serving on numerous boards, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Play On, Philly!, Arden Theatre Company, The National Liberty Museum, and the William Penn Foundation, among many others. 

Founded in 2024, Briar Hill Foundation was named for the family’s Montgomery County home known as Briar Hill, where Carole raised her sons, Mitch Fenimore and Scott Fenimore. The Foundation is inspired by the life of Carole’s late husband, chemist, executive, and philanthropist F. Otto Haas. His passionate investment in education, environmental conservation, and the arts continues to create powerful impact through the CHG Charitable Trust, which funds Briar Hill Foundation's work today.

Carole moved to Lancaster County to be closer to her son and grandchildren, having established a rich connection while living in the area in the 1980s. Led by Scott Fenimore and a Board of Directors with deep roots in Lancaster, Briar Hill Foundation thoughtfully invests in the community Carole and her family call home. 

Briar Hill Foundation supports local nonprofit organizations through collaborative programming, including capacity building and leadership development, and offers strategic grantmaking that advances arts education, environmental conservation, and collective well-being in Lancaster County.

Three people, two men and one woman, standing together in a living room, smiling at the camera. The woman in the center is wearing a red suit and glasses. The man on the left has a beard and glasses, dressed in a checked blazer and beige pants. The man on the right has white hair and is wearing a grey checkered blazer with light blue shirt. The room has artwork on the wall and modern furniture.

“Our goals are simple: amplify the amazing work being done in our community and support the organizations striving to make real change in Lancaster.”

– Scott fenimore, Executive Director

Our Pillars:

  • Arts Education: We believe a thriving arts community makes for a vibrant community. Young adults who have access to and an appreciation of the arts do better in school and have improved health outcomes.

  • Environmental Stewardship: When people experience the relationship between our natural and built environments and understand their own impact on both, a dedication to preserving natural resources is fostered. This is where change begins.

  • Community Well-Being: From expanding access to healthcare to supporting the unhoused, community well-being is about improving the everyday lives of Lancaster residents.

Our Team

Portrait of a smiling man wearing glasses, a light blue button-up shirt, and a gray suit jacket, standing in an indoor setting with a glass window and a white wall in the background.

Scott Fenimore

Executive director

With two decades of experience in environmental conservation, stewardship has always been at the heart of Scott’s work.

An older woman with gray hair and glasses, wearing a red blazer over a white blouse, smiling and leaning against a white wall.

Carole Haas Gravagno

Founder & President of the Board of Trustees

Community advocate and lifelong educator, Carole founded Briar Hill Foundation as an investment in the place she now calls home.

Our Board

Peter Barber
Two Dudes Painting Company

Tracy Cutler
Lancaster County Community Foundation

Mitchell Fenimore
River Wealth Advisors

Ann Fulton
Fountain Avenue Kitchen

Carole Haas Gravagno
Briar Hill Foundation

Janet Haas
William Penn Foundation

Luis Mendoza II
Fulton Bank