Andrea Crouch’s New Chapter with the Sullivan Foundation

As the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation approaches its one-hundredth anniversary, trustee Andrea M. Crouch has stepped forward with a $20,000 matching gift—an offer designed to double alumni support dollars and accelerate the Foundation’s recent shift to hands-on social-impact programming. For Crouch—retired vice president at Chattem, Inc., now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanofi, and widow of Clay Crouch, a direct descendant of Algernon Sydney Sullivan’s brother Thomas—the pledge is as much a tribute to family legacy as a sign of strategic support toward the Foundation’s move to a proactive future.

“When Steve outlined the goal, I told him, ‘Let’s set the match at twenty—and if all goes well, you’ll get forty,’” Crouch recalled.

Clay Crouch: A Global Marketer with Local Heart

The pledge is inseparable from family history. Crouch’s late husband, John Clayton “Clay” Crouch Sr., traced his lineage to Thomas Sullivan, brother of Algernon Sydney Sullivan. Born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1956 and raised in Los Angeles, Clay earned a B.A. in economics at Washington & Lee (1978) and an MBA at Emory’s Goizueta Business School (1983), where he met Andrea. A gifted sales strategist, he built brands across the hemisphere: first at Arcor Confectionery, then through his own distributor Summit Development, and ultimately as an international executive for McKee Foods.

What many might consider Clay’s signature entrepreneurial venture was Horizons Global Trading, the export firm he founded to thread Little Debbie snack cakes and other U.S. staples through the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific. The same personal motivation that helped move products across oceans also powered his philanthropy. He served as a trustee of the Sullivan Foundation, joined the Outreach Haiti Committee to help rebuild St. John the Evangelist School in Petit Harpon, and, closer to home, lent his design savvy to local gardens and community projects on Lookout Mountain.

Andrea Steps In, First at Horizons, Then as Trustee

In 2014, Andrea joined Horizons as vice-president of new-business development, translating her Chattem, Inc./Sanofi playbook into overseas grocery aisles. “I wasn’t done working,” she said, “just ready to work differently.” After Clay’s death in 2017, the Sullivan trustees invited her to take the seat he had occupied for a decade, a gesture she immediately accepted.

A History of Philanthropy

The Crouches’ civic footprint may have been as broad as their supply lines. Together they supported ArtsBuild Chattanooga, the Chambliss Center for Children, and a host of quiet neighborhood causes. Clay’s annual generosity to Outreach Haiti ran alongside Andrea’s board service to Focus Consumer Healthcare and her advisory work for a Chicago advertising agency. Andrea considers her time with the Hunter Museum of American Art—as a long-term board member and its recently retired board chair—her most important extracurricular activity. “It’s the quintessential win-win,” she said of projects that blend commerce and compassion.

The Sullivan Connection

Clay’s involvement with the Foundation began with genealogy. “He had always heard about the Sullivan link from his mother’s side,” Andrea explained. “He took it upon himself to research Algernon Sydney Sullivan and contacted the board to say, ‘I’m a descendant, I’d love to get involved.’ It meant a lot to him.” The pride is shared by Clay’s brothers in Los Angeles, who, Andrea noted, still share family stories whenever the Sullivan name surfaces. “They enjoy knowing their legacy is being continued,” She explained.

From Tradition to Impact

That legacy now runs through Sullivan’s programming. Crouch applauded the Foundation’s shift from a purely scholarship-and-award model to hands-on initiatives—Ignite Retreats, Sullivan Fellows, Service Corps placements—that turn student idealism and energy into pragmatic ventures. “Steve modernized the efforts and made them appropriate for where we are in our world,” she said. During her first Ignite Retreat, she heard undergraduates present thoughtful plans for mission-driven ventures. “Seeing these well-spoken students speak from the heart is exciting,” she added.

Yet Crouch is equally excited by a quieter project: the Foundation’s continued effort to connect nearly a century of Sullivan alumni. For decades, recipients learned of the honor on commencement day and dispersed. Today the Foundation is building a cross-generational network—city meet-ups, campus gatherings, and a revamped digital directory to help award recipients find mentors and support long after tassels are turned. “Introduce the idea to people who already have a vested interest but don’t know what to do with it, and the conversations are magic,” Andrea explained.

A President’s Perspective

Steve McDavid, the Foundation’s president, believes Crouch’s gift lands at precisely the right moment. “Andrea brings a marketer’s instinct to the table,” he observed. “Her match encourages everyone who has benefited from the Foundation to pay it forward in tangible dollars—and her enthusiasm shows how a trustee can lead from both head and heart.”

The Centennial Call

The matching funds will underwrite additional Ignite “scholarships”, expand the Foundation’s Fellows program, and increase the number of Sullivan Service Corps participants. Crouch framed the opportunity with the precision of a brand manager. “A match doubles impact,” she says. “Every contribution, large or small, tells a student: ‘We believe in your capacity to build something that helps people.’ That’s the story we want to write in the Foundation’s second century.”

With Lookout Mountain behind her and the Foundation’s horizon ahead, Andrea Crouch is putting family legacy, professional acumen, and personal generosity to work—inviting the entire Sullivan community to help turn twenty thousand dollars into forty, and forty into the numerous acts of service that will follow.