BoardSource and Nonprofit Finance Fund Announce New CEOs

BoardSource

Monika Kalra Varma has been tapped as its next president and CEO, effective in August.

Most recently, she served as executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Varma succeeds Anne Wallestad, who is stepping down as CEO after 14 years.

Nonprofit Finance Fund

Aisha Benson will become its CEO and president on August 8. Most recently she was executive vice president and chief operating officer at TruFund Financial Services.
Benson follows Antony Bugg-Levine, who departed last year to become managing director of the impact-investment organization Lafayette Square.

Oregon Community Foundation

Lisa Mensah, president and CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network, will become CEO and president of the $3.7 billion foundation on September 19.

She replaces Max Williams, who is departing after 10 years of leadership.

Service Year Alliance

Kristen Bennett has been promoted from chief strategy officer to CEO.

She has served as interim co-CEO since Jesse Colvin left the organization in November.

More New CEOs

Deborah Bowie has been tapped as executive director of the OnePulse Foundation, which was created after the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Most recently she was assistant city manager for the City of Gainesville, Fla.

Eva Douzinas, former chief financial officer and co-president of Veson Nautical Corporation, will serve as the next president of the Rauch Foundation. She succeeds her mother, Nancy Rauch Douzinas, who has led the $137 million family foundation since 1990 and is now stepping aside.

Matthew Hodge, associate vice president for development and chief development officer at the University of Florida, has been named vice president for university relations at the University of Maryland and president of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation.

Jasmine Jones will be the first director of Abundance, which was created by Chicago Beyond, the Grand Victoria Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to distribute more grants to organizations that are led by and serve Black people. She is the former executive director of the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund.

Sharon Sobol Jordan will become the first woman president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Cleveland, effective September 30. Currently she is interim CEO of DigitalC, a nonprofit technology start-up in Cleveland. Jordan will follow Augie Napoli, who is retiring in the fall.

Edurne Balmori Palacios, CEO of Metco, has joined the Trevor Project as the first executive director of the LGBTQ suicide-prevention organization’s operations in Mexico.

Blondel Pinnock, chief operations officer at the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, has been named president and CEO of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.

Leah Lopez Schmalz will become president of Save the Sound in October. She is currently the Connecticut conservation group’s vice president of programs, where she oversees its departments in climate and resiliency, healthy waters, protected lands, ecological restoration, and communications. Schmalz will follow Curt Johnson, who will retire after 20 years there.

John Williams, who most recently served as interim executive director of the Summit Education Initiative, has been tapped as president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan. He succeeds Sandra Pearson, who has led the organization since 2010.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Roshell Rinkins, senior director of grants administration, has been promoted to vice president for grants administration and chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.

In addition, Alejandro de Onís has been promoted from director of digital strategy and design to vice president for communications and digital strategy at the $2.4 billion foundation.

Other Notable Appointments

Kristin Curry, director of institutional giving and events at the Newark Museum of Art, has been named chief development officer at Metropolitan College of New York.

Jennifer DiFranco, alumni- and parent-giving director at College of the Holy Cross, will now serve as director of development at Worcester Academy, a private school in Massachusetts.

Mary Duvall, associate vice president of university relations at Pacific Lutheran University, has been appointed vice president for development at Luther College.

Randi Footlik has been hired as vice president and creative director at Altus Marketing, a direct-marketing firm for nonprofit groups and membership organizations. Most recently she was creative director at the Russ Reid Company.

Boaz Meir, executive director of the Jewish National Fund-USA’s Mountain States region, has been promoted to international development director for the fund’s World Zionist Village.

Leticia Peguero, an executive coach and organizational consultant, has joined Firelight Media as senior vice president. Previously she was vice president of programs at the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

Departures

Walter Givhan, who has served since 2014 as senior vice chancellor for advancement and economic development at Troy University, in Alabama, will step down in July.

John Graham, president and CEO of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center, has retired after 12 years there.

Peter Lupoff has stepped down after three years as CEO of the GOOD Institute and Net Impact.

Brian Shepard will depart as CEO of the United Network for Organ Sharing in September after 10 years there. Maureen McBride, chief operating officer, will step in as interim CEO while the group searches for a permanent replacement.

Daniel Weiss, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2015 and its CEO since 2017, intends to depart in June 2023.

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