Northern California Grantmakers Gets First Policy Director, FINCA Hires Top Fundraiser

FINCA International

Colleen Zakrewsky has been named chief development officer of the organization. FINCA serves low-income entrepreneurs in 21 countries, providing financial services like microcredit and products aimed at improving quality of life, such as solar-powered lights and safe cook stoves.

Ms. Zakrewsky was previously vice president for development, marketing, and communications at Women for Women International.

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia

Roopal Mehta Saran, former director of account management at children’s charity Kaboom!, has been named executive director. She will join the council August 28.

Northern California Grantmakers

Cecilia Chen, a former California deputy attorney general, has been named the umbrella group’s first manager of public policy. The Bay Area organization, whose 180 members include some of philanthropy’s biggest players, said in a statement that advancing policy on social-equity issues will be part of Ms. Chen’s portfolio.

Other notable appointments:

Ashley René Lee is the new vice president of public relations and marketing at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. Previously she was assistant director of communications for residence education and housing services at Michigan State University.

The Lilly Endowment has two new program directors: Ted Maple, former head of Early Learning Indiana, and Susan Haber, an attorney and veteran consultant focused on youth and child-welfare causes. Both will work in Lilly’s education and youth-development program areas.

United States Agency for International Development

Mark Green, a former congressman who also served as U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, has been confirmed as administrator of the federal agency, which is a major source of funding for charities that work overseas.

Departures

Jackie Parker stepped down as head of General Motors’s foundation and global-philanthropy division after 21 months in the posts. The automaker is revising its $30-million-a-year giving strategy to align more closely with its business mission. The company said Ms. Parker intends to spend more time with her family in Atlanta.