President-elect Joe Biden’s transition teams include scores of notable nonprofit names that signal a powerful shift away from President Trump’s policies on immigration, the environment, and other issues.
Organizations represented on the list include the American Civil Liberties Union, Arnold Ventures, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the National Audubon Society, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Laura Tomasko, of the Urban Institute, who worked in the White House Office of Social Innovation under President Obama, said she was happy to see so many different types of nonprofits and foundations on the list.
“It’s exciting to see that kind of philanthropic diversity on the transition team,” she said.
The sheer number of nonprofits on the list indicates more alignment between nonprofits and the incoming administration than the Trump administration, experts said.
Alan Abramson, of George Mason University, said the list shows “a real sharing of values between these nonprofits and the incoming Biden administration.”
Abramson, a professor of government and politics who also writes about philanthropy, said the list shows that the incoming Biden administration views philanthropy as “a storehouse of knowledge and experts.”
The transition teams are an early marker for a new administration, and it remains to be seen how influential nonprofits will be in the years ahead.
Leslie Lenkowsky, an expert on philanthropy and public affairs at Indiana University who led a transition team for President Reagan, noted that some but not all members of transition teams end up working for the new administration.
“There’s no doubt that the Biden administration will be more welcoming administration to the nonprofit world, and that’s what you’re seeing here,” Lenkowsky said.
Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, said he was pleased by the names he saw on the list and what they mean for the new administration.
“President-Elect Biden has spoken of a ‘time for healing,’ and I am confident and he and his transition team recognize the crucial role that nonprofits supported by philanthropy must play in that effort,” Buchanan said in an emailed statement.
He added: “Mission-driven nonprofits, especially at the community level, are often serving the most vulnerable and disadvantaged among us, and we need a policy environment that recognizes and supports these organizations in playing their vital role.”
The following is a list of some of the most prominent nonprofit and foundation officials on the transition team:
Department of Education
Corporation for National and Community Service
Linda Darling-Hammond, CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, is the team leader. She is joined by Ary Amerikaner of the Education Trust, Jessica Cardichon of the Learning Policy Institute, Lindsay Dworkin of the Alliance for Excellent Education, and Emma Vadehra of the Century Foundation.
Department of Justice
Some of the names on this list suggest more of an emphasis in a Biden administration on tackling the root causes of crime. This team includes James Cadogan, who oversees pretrial justice efforts at Arnold Ventures; Kristina Rose of Healing Justice, who spent nearly 20 years at the Department of Justice and served previously as a senior policy adviser to Biden in 2016 while he was vice president; Lynn Rosenthal of the Center for Family Safety and Healing, who previously was director of violence against women efforts for the Biden Foundation; and Melanca Clark, CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation, which focuses on improving the quality of life in Detroit.
Council on Environmental Quality
Cecilia Martinez, the executive director at the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy, will be the team leader. She is joined by Shara Mohtadi of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Department of Commerce
This transition team features several names that signal Biden’s desire to infuse pro-environmental policies in decisions affecting businesses, including Ellen Hughes-Cromwick from the climate and energy program at Third Way, Karen Hyun of the National Audubon Society, and Kris Sarri of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
This team also includes Kathryn de Wit of the Pew Charitable Trusts, who works on efforts to connect millions of Americans to reliable high-speed internet.
Department of Energy
This transition team also includes notable nonprofit environmental experts such as Noah Deich of Carbon180, Rama Zakaria of the Environmental Defense Fund, and Adrianna Quintero of the Energy Foundation. The team also includes Rhonda Carter of the Marguerite Casey Foundation.
Department of Homeland Security
This transition team includes some names that signal a sharp departure from President Trump’s immigration-enforcement policies. The team leader is Ur Jaddou, director of DHS Watch at America’s Voice, a nonprofit that seeks “policy changes that secure freedom and opportunity for immigrants.” The team also includes Andrea Flores, deputy director of policy at the equality division of the American Civil Liberties Union.
International Development
The team leader is Linda Etim, a former senior adviser on Africa policy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a former assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She is joined on the team by Bama Athreya of the Laudes Foundation, Alex Crabtree of the American Civil Liberties Union, Dina Esposito of Mercy Corps, Cindy Huang of Refugees International, and Michele Sumilas, executive director of Bread for the World.
Office of National Drug-Control Policy
Some of the names on this list suggest a focus on treatment for the nation’s illicit drug-use problems. Rahul Gupta, chief medical and health officer at the March of Dimes, will be the team leader. Gupta was formerly public-health commissioner for West Virginia, one of the nation’s hotspots for opioid addiction. He is joined on the team by Kimberlyn Leary of the Urban Institute, a health expert and a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School; Mario Moreno, vice president for communications at the Washington Office on Latin America; and Dave Noble, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.
Office of Personnel Management
Kiran Ahuja, CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, will be the transition team leader for this federal agency, which oversees federal hiring. Ahuja is a veteran of the Obama administration who has held a wide variety of government and nonprofit leadership roles.
Joining Ahuja on the team will be David Marsh of the Markle Foundation, where he is senior manager for state and federal policy; Anne Harkavy of the Democracy Forward; and Theodora Chang of Partnership for Public Service. Chang is a specialist in improving the organizational performance of federal agencies.
Other Agencies
Sarah Cross of the Open Society Foundations was named to the State Department transition team.
Molly McUsic, president of the Wyss Foundation, is on the Interior Department transition team, along with Shannon Estenoz of the Everglades Foundation.
Isobel Coleman, formerly of GiveDirectly. Coleman will lead the transition team for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She has held a variety of government and nonprofit leadership roles and served as an adviser to Biden during his presidential campaign.
Matt Bailey program director for digital freedom at PEN America, who has previously served in a variety of technology-related roles at the White House, will be transition team leader for the U.S. Digital Service. He will be joined by Andrew Nacin, director of engineering at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and lead developer at WordPress.
Courtney Chapin, executive director of the Better Angels Society, a nonprofit that educates Americans about history through documentary film, is team leader for Arts and Humanities. She is joined on the team by Robert Lynch, CEO of Americans for the Arts.
Ben Winter of the California Community Foundation serves on the Department of Housing and Urban Development team.
