April 2, 2019 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Rebecca Rimel, who has led Pew Charitable Trusts for three decades and oversaw its transformation from a foundation to a charity, announced to the organization’s staff today that she will step down when a successor is named.
Rimel joined Pew in 1983 as its health program manager after a career in nursing at the University of Virginia. She became Pew’s executive director in 1988 and was named CEO in 1994. During her tenure, the charity’s staff has grown from fewer than 10 to more than 1,000 in the United States and abroad.
Today, Pew leads more than 40 projects and campaigns in areas such as conservation, state policy, economic policy, and health.
The biggest change during Rimel’s leadership came in late 2003, when Pew announced that the Internal Revenue Service had approved it plans to become a charity. The change was intended to allow Pew to raise money for its projects and devote more time and money to lobbying and advocacy.
The move was controversial at the time, with critics charging that the IRS had “unleashed a financial behemoth” without the checks and balances that limit the power of traditional foundations.
But in many ways, the transformation at Pew foreshadowed one of the biggest current trends in philanthropy — the use of limited-liability companies that allow wealthy donors more flexibility in pursuing their goals. A growing list of billionaires, including Laurene Powell Jobs, Pierre Omidyar, Mark Zuckerberg, and John Arnold have set up LLCs to pursue social change through lobbying and for-profit investing in addition to traditional grant making.
$5.3 Billion in Assets
A committee led by Robert Campbell, chairman of Pew’s board, is expected to begin a search for a new CEO in early summer. Rimel plans to stay involved at Pew as a senior adviser after the transition, according to Melissa Skolfield, a Pew spokeswoman.
Pew Charitable Trusts was founded in 1948, and is the sole beneficiary of seven trusts set up by the heirs of the founder of Sun Oil Company, Joseph Newton Pew. As of June 2017, the value of the seven trusts was $5.3 billion. The charity’s operating budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year was $313 million. For perspective, if it was still a foundation, it would be one of the 15 wealthiest in the United States, according to Candid, a group formed from a merger of the Foundation Center and GuideStar.
“It has been a privilege and a source of great joy to serve with a talented, generous, and caring staff throughout my tenure,” Rimel said, in a statement. “Any success we have enjoyed is due to their integrity, creativity, and unflinching commitment to building a world-class institution and advancing an ambitious programmatic agenda. I will always be grateful for their support and encouragement as we worked to best serve the public interest.”
