During her tenure, the foundation significantly expanded its grantmaking, distributing millions in annual arts grants to poetry nonprofits, publishers, and presses across the country. According to the most recent public tax reports, the foundation reported $13.8 million in revenue in 2024 and held $313 million in total assets. It is among the largest funders of poetry organizations nationally.

Boone also pushed to publish more diverse voices in Poetry magazine and championed the creation of Chicago’s first poet laureate position. avery r. young was named the city’s inaugural poet laureate in 2023, and Mayda del Valle will hold the title through 2027. In 2022, Boone hired Adrian Matejka as Poetry magazine’s first Black editor-in-chief.

“I have had the privilege of working alongside a deeply committed board and talented staff to lead the Poetry Foundation into a new era of amplifying poetry and celebrating poets,” Boone said in a statement. “The legacy of service to the literary arts has been expanded in meaningful ways, and now it’s time for new leadership to take this work to the next level as the Foundation approaches its 25th anniversary.”

Before joining the Poetry Foundation, Boone held leadership roles at the Joyce Foundation, where she focused on arts funding across the Midwest, and served as chief program and civic engagement officer at Navy Pier. As the city’s cultural commissioner, she launched the Chicago Architecture Biennial, a months-long design festival that brings global talent to Chicago.

The Poetry Foundation, which began in 2003 with a major gift from philanthropist Ruth Lilly, publishes Poetry magazine and distributes grants to poetry organizations nationwide. A search committee has been established to find Boone’s successor.