Climate-Change Advocate Will Lead Environmental Grantmakers Association

Environmental Grantmakers Association

Tamara Toles O’Laughlin will now serve as its president and CEO.

A longtime environmental activist and advocate, she previously was North America director at 350.org and 350 Action, where she supported climate-change organizers in the United States and Canada.

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation

Patrisse Cullors, its co-founder and executive director, is stepping down.

Monifa Bandele, chief operating officer at Time’s Up Foundation, and Makani Themba, chief strategist at Higher Ground Change Strategies, will lead the social-justice group on an interim basis until a new leader has been hired.

Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Gislaine Ngounou, vice president of strategy and programs, will step up as interim president and CEO on June 1, following the departure of Nick Donohue.

Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

Ruth LaToison Ifill, interim president and CEO for the past year, will continue in the role permanently.

Before joining the association last summer, she was vice president of culture, talent, and equity at the Council on Foundations.

More New CEOs

Marla Bilonick, executive director of the Latino Economic Development Center, has been appointed president and CEO of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders.

Nolen Bivens, a management consultant and president of Leader Six, has been permanently installed as president and CEO of Americans for the Arts after leading the group in an interim capacity for six months. He succeeds Robert Lynch, who has retired after 36 years there. Lynch took a leave of absence in December following employee allegations of a racist workplace culture.

Lavinia Boxill, vice chancellor for advancement at Rutgers University at New Brunswick, will serve as interim president of the Rutgers University Foundation and executive vice president for development and alumni engagement. She follows Nevin Kessler, who is stepping down after seven years.

Charly Carter has been hired as executive director of the Democracy Initiative. In 2018, she founded Step Up Maryland, an organization dedicated to ending structural racism in the state.

Jeannie Diefenderfer, founder and CEO of the leadership consulting firm CourageNPurpose, is also now CEO of the Center for Higher Ambition Leadership.

Cindi Fein will be the first executive director of NAMI Citrus, a Florida affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Most recently she was a training coordinator at the Citrus County Clerk of the Courts.

Deborah Harlin, acting executive director of the Helen Keller National Center since October, will continue in the role permanently. Previously she was director of information, research, and professional development.

Damon Hewitt, executive vice president, has been promoted to president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He succeeds Kristen Clarke, who was confirmed last week as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Susan Latham, vice president of development at Citymeals on Wheels, has joined the Queens Public Library Foundation as its executive director.

Danielle Rose, president of Smash, has been promoted to CEO. She will be the first Black woman to lead the Oakland, Calif., education group that runs programs in science, technology, engineering, and math within low-income communities.

Paul Schwendener, executive director of the All-Star Orchestra, has been tapped as executive director of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival. He succeeds Elaine Lipton, who has worked there since 2006 and will retire in August at the conclusion of the summer festival.

Ballmer Group

The Bellevue, Wash., grant maker started by the technology billionaires Steve and Connie Ballmer has named three new program staffers.

Anneka Preston, grants manager at the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, has been hired as grants manager on Ballmer Group Philanthropy’s operations team.

Temeca Simpson has joined as a portfolio manager with Ballmer Group’s southeast Michigan office. Most recently, she served as the director of management assistance at the Forbes Funds.

Frances Yang, an associate at Next Street, is now manager of strategic initiatives.

California Endowment

Kate Kendell, interim chief legal officer at the Southern Poverty Law Center, is joining the $3.4 billion grant maker as its first chief of staff. She has served as a member of its Board of Directors for nine years.

JPMorgan Chase

Demetrios Marantis will join the bank in September as global head of corporate responsibility.

Currently he leads global government engagement at Visa, where he oversaw the creation of the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute.

Year Up

Ellen McClain, chief financial officer at Year Up, has been promoted to chief operating officer.

She succeeds John Bradley, who will now serve as a special adviser to the CEO and will lead the workforce-development organization’s policy and advocacy work.

Other Notable Appointments

Christina Adcox has been hired as director of advancement and strategic partnerships at the Noble Research Institute. Most recently she spent a year as interim executive director at the Integris Foundation, where she was previously its director of operations.

Jason Amore will become senior vice president for university advancement at Fairleigh Dickinson University on August 1. Currently he is vice president of university advancement at Alfred University.

David Aycan, managing director at the design company IDEO, has been hired as chief solutions officer at Learning Ally.

Evelyn Barahona will serve as the first director of the Boston Foundation’s Latino Equity Fund. She most recently was a donor-relations officer in the foundation’s philanthropy group.

Melanie Claxton, coordinator of out-of-school time at Pittsburgh Public Schools, has been named senior program officer at the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, where she will oversee the foundation’s grant making in education.

Ellie Collinson, chief operating officer at the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, has been named chief operating officer at RepresentUs.

Diana Einstein, executive director of the Mayor’s Star Council in Dallas, has joined Dwell with Dignity as its director of community engagement.

Meghan Hallock, director of development and alumni relations at the Northeastern University School of Law, has been hired as vice president for advancement at American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Armedia Houston has been promoted from education and enrichment manager to director of tutoring and summer day programs at Chicago Lights, a social-services group. In addition, Theresa Thornburg has been promoted from associate director to director of the Social Service Center.

Kristen Naney has been appointed director of impact and learning at the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. Most recently she was a public-health epidemiologist in the Population Health Division of North Carolina’s Durham County Health Department.

Matthew Sauer has joined the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation as collaboration and impact officer. He has worked for 28 years at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, most recently as its executive editor, as well as regional editor for the newspaper’s parent company, Gannett.

Jonathan Simons, president and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, will next serve as medical director and chief science officer at the Marcus Foundation, effective August 1. He will succeed Fred Sanfilippo, who has retired.

James Wahls, portfolio manager of social investments for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has been appointed senior vice president of programs and initiatives at Mission Investors Exchange.

Departures

Anne Lynam Goddard will retire in May 2022 after 15 years as president and CEO of ChildFund International.

Victoria Morgan will retire after 25 years as artistic director of the Cincinnati Ballet at the end of the 2022 season.

Legacies

George Keane, founder of the Commonfund, died on May 20 at age 91. He was the first CEO of what was originally known as the Common Fund from its inception in 1971 until he stepped down in 1993. Keane continued to serve as a senior investment adviser until his retirement in 1996. Commonfund now has $26 billion in assets.

William Richardson, who was president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for 10 years until his retirement in 2005, died on May 18 from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81.

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