Episcopal Health Foundation Chooses Medical Doctor as Next CEO

Episcopal Health Foundation

On October 3, Ann Barnes will become the $1.4 billion foundation’s next president and CEO. A board-certified internist, she is currently the chief health officer and senior vice president at the Harris Health System in Houston.

Barnes will succeed Elena Marks, who has led the grant maker since it was founded in 2013 and will retire in September.

Feed the Children

Bregeita (Bre) Jefferson, chief international operations, finance, and compliance officer at Feed the Children, has been promoted to president of Feed International, its global arm.

In addition, Colleen Finn Ridenhour has been hired as chief growth and strategy officer at Feed the Children. Most recently she was chief development officer at Habitat for Humanity International.

William T. Grant Foundation

Kimberly DuMont will return to the $406 million grant maker as senior vice president of program, effective October 1. She worked there from 2011 until 2020 as a program officer and later as a senior program officer.

Currently, she is vice president and managing director of the equity initiative at the American Institutes for Research.

OutRight International

Maria Sjödin, acting executive director since September 2021, has been permanently installed as its leader. Previously she was its deputy executive director.

Sjödin succeeds Jessica Stern, who now works in the U.S. Department of State as special envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.

More New CEOs

LaKricia Cox, director of programs at the Little Bit Foundation, has been tapped as executive director of Girls in the Know.

Walt Edwards has been promoted to president of the fundraising consulting firm Graham-Pelton. He joined the company in 2020 as a senior vice president.

Deborah Lauter has been chosen as the next executive director of the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights. Since 2019, she has led the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes.

Holly Leicht, executive vice president of real-estate development and planning at Empire State Development, will be the next executive director of Madison Square Park Conservancy. She succeeds Keats Myer, who will leave at the end of the summer after 10 years there.

Toya Lillard, interim executive director of 651 ARTS since May, will continue at the helm permanently. Previously, she was executive director of ViBe Theater Experience.

Tim McLellan, interim CEO of Trees for the Future since February, will continue leading the conservation group on a permanent basis. Previously he was chief operating officer at TechnoServe.

Scott Millstein, executive director at the Coro New York Leadership Center, is now executive director of iMentor NYC.

Michelle Preston will become executive director of the José Limón Dance Foundation on November 1. Currently she is executive director of SITI Company, an ensemble theater company in New York.

Ronnette Smith, founder and CEO of RRS Legacy Group, has been appointed CEO of the Future Foundation, which offers after-school classes, family-support workshops, and corporate mentorships to Atlanta students in need. She follows James Tyson, who has served as the organization’s interim CEO for the past two years.

Jhatayn (Jay) Travis, co-director of the Midwest Academy, has been named executive director of the Needmor Fund. She succeeds Mary Sobecki, who will become transition manager in September before retiring at the end of the year after leading the $31 million foundation for 18 years.

Tuesday’s Children

This charity that was created in response to the September 11 attacks has hired two new staffers to expand its services for families of fallen members of the military.

Rachele Belt, Baltimore and Chesapeake region director at Blue Star Families, has been hired as mid-Atlantic regional manager of Gold Star family programs, based in Baltimore.

Tina Saari will serve as the director of Gold Star family programs, based in Bell County, Tex. Previously she was senior director of national engagement programs at the Travis Manion Foundation.

Other Notable Appointments

Andrew Axelrod will become the Aspen Institute’s executive vice president for finance and enterprise business development in the fall. He currently works at the United Nations Foundation as chief operating officer.

Russatta Buford, chief administrative officer at the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, will now serve as chief operating officer at the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Diana Champ Davis, chief financial officer at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, has been named managing director of finance and grants management at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. In addition, Wendy Feliz has been hired as managing director of democracy and public-policy adviser. She most recently worked at the American Immigration Council as founding director of the Center for Inclusion and Belonging.

Elaine Delgado has been named chief development and marketing officer at Ballet Hispánico. Previously she was chief development officer at the Ghetto Film School.

Heather Dennis, senior vice president of philanthropy and president at the Guideposts Foundation, was hired as vice president of development at the Catholic Medical Mission Board.

Kathryne Grove has joined Western Resource Advocates as vice president of equity and culture, a new position at the environmental group. Most recently she was civil-rights director and diversity officer at the Regional Transportation District in Denver.

Janna Oberdorf, vice president of external affairs at Echoing Green, has been named director of communications at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Rachel Reichert, cultural-sites manager for the City of Boise’s Department of Arts and History where she was also director of the James Castle House, has joined the Ruth Foundation for the Arts as program director of sites and stewardship.

Departures

Eric Braxton, co-executive director of the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing, is stepping down after 11 years as its leader. Mónica Córdova will remain the sole executive director of the organization.

Kristen Shepherd has departed after five years as executive director and CEO of the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.

Legacies

Donald Jonas, an art collector and retailing executive who founded Jonas Philanthropies in 2006, died on July 23. He was 92. He was the former chairman of Lechters Housewares, a national retail chain that he co-founded in 1973 and led until his retirement in 2001. With his late wife, Barbara, the couple gave millions to support nursing and veteran health care, children’s environmental health, vision care, and tree planting as a solution to climate change. (Read more about the Jonases in this article from our archive.)

R. Anderson (Andy) Pew, a philanthropist and former chairman of the Pew Charitable Trusts, died on June 25 at age 85. He was the great-grandson of Joseph Newton Pew, the founder of Sun Oil, and after working at the oil company, Andy Pew went on to serve as a director and trustee at Glenmede, an investment and wealth-management firm, and as president of Helios Capital Corp. In addition to his work at the Pew Charitable Trusts, he sat on the boards at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Jackson Laboratory biomedical research institute in Bar Harbor, Me., Temple University, the Academy of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, Bryn Mawr College, and Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.