CPA Jennifer Saunders Pfitzner Honored with the 2023 Barron F. Black Community Builder Award

Jennifer Ann Saunders Pfitzner is a certified public accountant who encourages her clients to be charitable. She also is a dedicated volunteer committed to strengthening the community where she grew up.

Pfitzner, a partner with Saunders, Matthews & Pfitzner, PLLC in Norfolk, is this year’s recipient of the Barron F. Black Community Builder Award by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Named after an attorney who founded Vandeventer Black LLP and was the community foundation’s first board chair, the award is presented annually to an outstanding community-minded professional advisor.

Pfitzner is president of the Wards Corner Lions Club, treasurer of ForKids and The Maury Foundation, and a member of the boards of Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jacket Club and Cedar Point Ladies Golf Association, among her many civic activities. She provides volunteer accounting services to ForKids and previously has done so for a number of other nonprofits.

“Jennifer Pfitzner's dedication to community building and advancing philanthropy in the region have made a profound impact on Hampton Roads," said Foundation President and CEO Deborah M. DiCroce. "Her passion aligns perfectly with the values that the Barron F. Black Community Builder Award represents. We are delighted to honor her with this well-deserved recognition."

Pfitzner, the 17th recipient of the award, was celebrated at a Nov. 28 reception at Town Point Club in Norfolk. At the event, a $5,000 grant from the community foundation was presented to a charity selected by Pfitzner, The Elizabeth River Project.

Each year, the Barron F. Black Award recipient is presented with a custom piece of art created by a local artist. Pfitzner received an original oil painting created by Norfolk artist Janice Gay Maker that captured a beautiful scene at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

Pfitzner earned her master's of business administration in taxation from Virginia Commonwealth University and her bachelor’s degree in business/economics and accounting with a minor in English literature from Randolph-Macon College.

As a professional, Pfitzner discusses charitable giving with clients and encourages people to get involved in activities to give back to the Hampton Roads region.

Philanthropy is important to her, she said, because of her upbringing. “It’s just how I was raised,” she said, recalling volunteering with the Lions Club and other organizations at a young age.

Pfitzner said she believes that everyone can find a way to be a philanthropist to improve and strengthen the community. “We have so many things right here in our area that everybody can get involved in something they’re interested in,” she said.

One of her pet peeves is people saying they don’t have time to do something.

“When somebody says, ‘I don't have time,’ what they're really saying is, ‘That's not important enough for me to make time,’” Pfitzner said. “You make time for what’s important.”