The Ariel Foundation

Karen Buchwald was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, lived in Springfield Ohio from age 4-12, and returned with her family to Mount Vernon in 1966, the same year Ariel Corporation was founded. Karen graduated from St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN with a degree in Ethology (wildlife research), and moved back to Mount Vernon in 1980 to begin her career at Ariel Corporation. From 1983 to 1997, she worked part-time while raising her four sons. She believes her experience juggling motherhood, part-time work in the family business and the general onslaughts of life, served as the best training possible for her job, as the chairman, president, and CEO of Ariel from 2001 to 2021. Today the company has transitioned to the third generation of leadership and Karen continues to serve as chairman of the board.

Because of Ariel Corporation's success and Karen's deep-seated belief in the necessity to give back, or "pay it forward," she has always given both time and money toward those organizations which help others help themselves or which give a leg up to those life has knocked out of the saddle. Putting the Ariel Foundation in place was a natural extension of that lifelong inclination and a hope to leave the world a little better than it was before she passed this way. It also ensures the continuation of Karen's aspiration and vision for her hometown for generations to come.

Tom Rastin was born in Iran. He visited the US for the first time, all by himself, when he was 9 years old. Tom’s father was head of the Iranian Swimming Federation, and at the time, in the late 1960’s, Iran and the US enjoyed a good relationship, a decade before the Iranian Revolution. A swim coach, who lived in Corpus Christi, TX and had coached in Iran, agreed to host Tom for the summer so that he could continue his intense swim training (with the Olympics in mind). Three years later, the coach moved to Lafayette, LA and Tom continued to visit in the summers and pursue his swimming training there, eventually finishing high school in Lafayette and going on to Louisiana State University to earn a doctorate in engineering science. He became a US citizen in his late 20’s, worked in Louisiana for an oil field service company and eventually came to Ariel Corporation in 1994 as an applications engineer.

Because of his experience as a first generation American, Tom is deeply grateful for the unique opportunities offered only in the USA. He believes it’s important to provide similar opportunities, through the foundation’s engineering scholarships, to young people wanting to pursue careers in engineering. Additionally, he supports programming for restoring mental health to traumatized children (in partnership with the county court system), with the intention of breaking the cycle of generational incarceration. He greatly respects the military, veterans, and first responders, and supports a variety of funding to provide equipment for the protection, health and well-being for local first responders, as well as his own personal support for numerous national military and veterans organizations.

Jen Odenweller was raised in Mount Vernon and graduated from Mount Vernon High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism with emphasis in public relations from The Ohio State University. Jen spent the next 20 years working in the United Way system, including 15 years as executive director of United Way of Knox County. Jen is married to Marc Odenweller and they reside in Mount Vernon. In 2015 Jen became director of Kenyon College’s Office for Community Partnerships located in the Wright Center in downtown Mount Vernon. Jen succeeds Jan Reynolds as executive director of The Ariel Foundation as of March 1, 2018.

“This is a very special opportunity to support Karen Buchwald Wright’s vision for a healthy and vibrant community through the work of The Ariel Foundation. It is a pleasure to partner with grantees who strive to make a difference in the Mount Vernon area.”

Jen is active on many local boards and community coalitions including Mount Vernon Arts Consortium, Foundation Park Conservancy, Main Street Mount Vernon, Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Knox Labs Inc., Community Mental Health & Recovery Board, Knox Health Planning Partnership, and Knox Substance Abuse Action Team.

Theresa Morris was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Theresa and her husband Eric fell in love with Knox County and moved to Apple Valley in 2004 along with their four lovely daughters.

Over the years, Theresa was a domestic engineer and child care provider before graduating from the Computerized Office Technologies, Adult Education Program, at the Knox County Technical Center in 2007 where she received her Microsoft Office Specialist and QuickBooks certifications. A 2013 Leadership Knox graduate, Theresa joined The Ariel Foundation after seven years with United Way of Knox County, as office manager and program coordinator.

Theresa serves on the Knox County Technical Center Adult Education Advisory Council and the Mount Vernon Developmental Center Citizens’ Advisory Council.