Human Rights Campaign Names a New President; Wells Fargo Foundation Installs Its First Black Leader

Human Rights Campaign

Kelley Robinson, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and vice president of advocacy and organizing at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has been tapped as president. She will start her new role on November 28.

Robinson will be the first Black, queer woman to run the LGBTQ organization.

David Rockefeller Fund

Lourdes Rodríguez will be its next CEO. She previously served as senior program officer at St. David’s Foundation.

This family foundation, which reported $66 million in assets in 2020, was started in 1989 by the late investment banker David Rockefeller and his wife, Peggy. He died in 2017.

Leon Levy Foundation

Meredith Ross has been promoted to president. She succeeds Robert Goldrich, who resigned in July after seven years there.

Ross has worked at the $600 million grant maker since 2014, most recently as program director.

In addition, Justine Koch has been promoted from controller and human-resources director to director of finance and administration, and Jennifer Ellis was promoted from program officer to senior program officer.

Wells Fargo and Company

Otis Rolley has joined the bank as head of social impact, in which role he will be the first Black leader of the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Most recently he was head of the Rockefeller Foundation’s U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative.

More New CEOs

Sara Brenner, who stepped down in July after 16 years as president of Community Wealth Partners, has joined the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington as the first executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation, which was previously known as the D.C. federation’s United Jewish Endowment Fund.

Jennifer Disla, co-executive director of Detroit Action, and Chris Torres, political director at MoveOn, will now serve as co-executive directors of Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice.

Carlos Gonzalez-Jaime has been hired as the first executive director of Transform 1012 N. Main Street, a Texas nonprofit group that is renovating a former Ku Klux Klan meeting space into the Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing. Gonzalez-Jaime is a nonprofit consultant who previously served as executive director of the Latino Arts Project in Dallas.

Jessica Heppen will become the first woman to serve as president and CEO of the American Institutes for Research in January. Currently its senior vice president, she will overlap for one year with David Myers, who has led the group since 2011 and intends to retire in February 2024.

Tim Johnstone, president and CEO of Johnstone Advantage Consulting Group, will step in as interim president and CEO of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation while it searches for a permanent leader. He follows Jim Ayres, who resigned in June after six months at the $200 million community fund.

Claire Lachance, CEO for the Institute of Noetic Sciences, has been appointed president and CEO of ReSurge International, a nonprofit organization that provides reconstructive plastic surgery to people in need across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Craig Peterson will become president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council on October 17. Currently he is vice president for visual and performing arts at the Henry Street Settlement and executive artistic director of the Abrons Arts Center. He follows Lili Chopra, who will remain with the arts group as special adviser to its Board of Directors.

Rosalyn Reed, executive director of United Roots, has been named CEO of the Homeless Prenatal Program. She succeeds its founder, Martha Ryan, who has led the group for more than 30 years.

Keisha Salmon has been named the executive director of the Association of Independents in Radio. Most recently she was director of communications and strategic initiatives at the John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity.

Daniel Stephens has been tapped as executive director of Ramapo for Children’s campus in Rhinebeck, N.Y. He is the former interim national director of the Wellness and Equity Alliance.

Nikhil Swaminathan, editor in chief, has been installed as CEO of Grist, a nonprofit media outlet that covers climate issues. He has served as its interim CEO since Brady Piñero Walkinshaw stepped down in February after four years there.

Other Notable Appointments

Kate Brueggemann, vice president of development at the Adler Planetarium, has joined the Chicago Zoological Society as senior vice president of development for the Brookfield Zoo. She follows Cindy Zeigler, who has departed after 14 years there.

Jessica Clarkson has been named program manager for Raising Our Children with Kindness Mat-Su at the Mat-Su Health Foundation. Most recently she was a program coordinator at Palmer Families with Infants and Toddlers Court.

Robert Davis Jr., vice president for student life at the University of Scranton, has been promoted to vice president for university advancement.

Shannon Donnelly, chief operating officer at the Chicago Collegiate Charter School, has been hired as chief operating and financial officer at Bottom Line, a charity that aims to close the gaps in degree-attainment rates for students of color.

Chris Gard has been promoted from senior director of marketing and creative to vice president of marketing, communications, and creative at Feed the Children.

Glenn Jenkins is now major-gifts officer at Habitat for Humanity of Broward. He previously led the Embrace Kids Foundation as executive director until December 2021.

Wilfredo (Wil) López has joined the Urban Resource Institute as director of government affairs. He is a lawyer who served as a legislative director in the New York City Council before running in the 2022 primary to represent East Harlem, El Barrio, and Yorkville in the New York State Assembly.

Elana MacGilpin has been promoted from development and stewardship officer to senior development officer at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford.

Moazzam Malik has been tapped as managing director for global delivery at the World Resources Institute. Most recently he served as director general for Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for the United Kingdom.

Richard Mayo II has been named chief of external affairs at Chicago Access Network Television. He most recently served as senior director of marketing and communications at McCormick Theological Seminary.

Kiisha Morrow, head of diversity and inclusion at the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, will be the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s first chief people and culture officer. She starts her new position on October 17.

Boris Oicherman has joined the Cleveland Foundation as program director for arts and culture. He most recently worked the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities’ Weisman Art Museum, where he was the curator for creative collaboration.

Gerry Pantoja has been promoted from director of major and planned giving to director of philanthropy at the Ventura College Foundation.

Mark Shrime, a lecturer in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School, has joined Mercy Ships as its international chief medical officer. A board-certified surgeon, he has volunteered as a head and neck surgeon on board the Africa Mercy since 2008.

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