Eriks Janelsins

President & CEO, Oglebay Foundation

By Blair Dowler-Wade

Growing up in the old farm town of New Palestine, IN, Eriks Janelsins, president and CEO of the Oglebay Foundation, learned the keys to success—showing up, working hard and being positive—during his first job baling hay for local farmers.

“It was hot, hard work, but each day you felt like you accomplished something significant,” he recalls. “I learned a lot about farming and life, which translates into my work today. It still seems like the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

Not only did Janelsins learn the meaning of hard work during his childhood, he also discovered his love for travel and the outdoors. His parents were both educators, and the family spent part of every summer vacation on driving tours across the country visiting national parks.

“Our time spent in Grand Teton National Park always seems like my most vivid childhood memory,” he says. “Staying in a cabin, hiking trails up and down the mountain, skipping rocks across the bright blue lake with the Grand Teton as a backdrop—that was a fairly perfect week.”

In 2002, Janelsins earned his undergraduate degree at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN, where he played college football. Afterward, he launched his career in philanthropy as an AmeriCorps VISTA, which brought him to his home among the hills in Wheeling and introduced him to his future at Oglebay.

“I was part of the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Health Corps working on community-based solutions to a wide array of projects from Pittsburgh to Southern West Virginia,” he says. “When I look back on my time as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I’m struck by the amount of time it takes for many projects to really take root in a community. I feel fortunate to have stayed in Wheeling to see ideas that were launched 20 years ago coming to fruition.”

Throughout his life, Janelsins has been consistently drawn to the idea of helping people. In his former role as director for the Oglebay Institute’s Schrader Environmental Education Center and his current role at the Oglebay Foundation, he has helped to create a positive culture through generous philanthropic gifts. Oglebay Resort and Wheeling Park are nationally unique as self-supporting public park entities. Through the combination of philanthropic support and the operation of successful commercial enterprises, the organization is able to operate and grow the 2,400-acre park system.

“I love being part of an organization with such a positive impact on the health of the community, from outdoor recreation, youth education and sports programs to the economic impact of our operations as a tourism leader and major employer,” he says. “My work is really to support donors who want to make impactful investments and support the leadership exploring new opportunities to provide unique and healthy experiences in the parks.”

Outside of his career, Janelsins continues to help others through personal philanthropy and community service, which he believes are learned behaviors. He serves on the board of directors for The National Association of Park Foundations and the board of chapter advisors of the Psi chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, an undergraduate fraternity at his alma mater. Janelsins is also a member of the executive committee of FACTS Impact, which extends a helping hand to individuals experiencing barriers to employment and empowers people to transform their lives and contribute to their communities.

“Both of my parents were very active in the community through youth sports and their church,” he says. “In college, I created a community service program as part of our football team where we would volunteer in the community each Friday of the season that we had a home game.”

While he learned service and kindness from his parents, Janelsins was inspired by the generosity of West Virginians during his time as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

“Our state is blessed with so many leaders in every county who give selflessly every day,” he says. “When you are surrounded by great people, it really inspires you to seek new opportunities.”