Eli Lilly and Company Foundation Promotes Next President From Within; New CEO Joins Texas Women’s Foundation

Eli Lilly and Company Foundation

Cynthia Cardona, senior adviser for corporate affairs at Eli Lilly and Company, has been promoted to president of its foundation. She will also serve as senior director of social impact at the pharmaceutical company.

She began her career at Lilly as a pre-MBA diversity fellowship intern in 2001 and was hired full-time in 2004.

California Wellness Foundation

Lori Cox will become vice president of programs, effective April 18.

She is currently director of the Alameda County Social Services Department in California.

Texas Women’s Foundation

Michelynn (Miki) Woodard will be its new president and CEO. She replaces Roslyn Dawson Thompson, who has retired after 10 years in the role.

Courtesy of the Texas Women’s Foundation

Most recently, Woodard was president of social impact, diversity, inclusion, and culture at Bad Robot Productions, the film and television production company started by the director and producer J.J. Abrams. She also served as senior adviser at the Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams Family Foundation.

More New CEOs

Christopher Bedford will become director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in June. Currently he is director of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Bedford will follow Neal Benezra, who has led the museum since 2002.

Lisa Ellis, a strategic communications and fundraising consultant, has been appointed executive director of the Santa Fe Council on International Relations.

Robert Harvey, superintendent of East Harlem Scholars Academies, has been named president of FoodCorps, a group that expands access to healthy food in schools. He will work alongside Curt Ellis, its co-founder and CEO.

Eddie Koen, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, has been appointed president of the Institute for Educational Leadership.

Giuliano Kornberg has been promoted from chief development officer to executive director of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera.

Danette Leighton, chief marketing officer of the Pac-12 Conference, will be the next CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Domitille Marchal Lemoine, a communications consultant for nonprofit groups in the United States, will be the first executive director of the Friends of Fondation de France, in New York.

Marty Martinez, chief of health and human services for the City of Boston, will be the next CEO of Reach Out and Read. He succeeds Brian Gallagher, who is departing after 15 years.

Maria Nicanor, executive director of the Rice Design Alliance at Rice University’s School of Architecture, has been hired as director of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

National Audubon Society

The conservation group has named four new senior staff members.

Marshall Johnson, interim chief conservation officer, will continue in the role permanently. Previously he was vice president and executive director of Audubon Dakota.

Sarah Rose, executive director of Audubon California, has been appointed vice president of climate at the national headquarters.

Justin Stokes is now deputy chief conservation officer. He was previously vice president and executive director of Audubon South Carolina.

Allison Vogt, interim chief of staff since July, has accepted the role permanently. She joined Audubon in July after serving as deputy executive director of the Nature Conservancy’s Maryland and D.C. state program.

Other Notable Appointments

Bridget Baratta, director of development at the Society of the Four Arts, was appointed vice president of development at the Rhode Island Foundation.

Sarah Beckwith, vice president and chief financial officer at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, has been named chief financial officer at Catholic Charities Baltimore.

Maria Beumont, senior medical director at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, was appointed vice president and chief medical officer for research and development at the TB Alliance.

Rebecca Ehrlichman Blume, assistant dean for mission advancement and engagement at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, has been promoted to vice chancellor for advancement at the University of Washington at Bothell. Her promotion is effective April 1.

Miriam Calderón, deputy assistant secretary for early learning at the U.S. Department of Education, has joined Zero to Three as chief policy officer.

Monika Collins, a fundraising consultant in Philadelphia, has been hired as vice president for advancement and philanthropic services at the Foundation for Delaware County.

Wafa Dinaro has been named executive director of the New Economy Initiative at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. Previously she was executive director of the Economic Development Corporation for the County of Wayne, Mich.

Carolyn Dinshaw, a professor of social and cultural analysis and English at New York University, has been hired as senior program director for higher learning at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Gihani Fernando, who was previously network-strategy officer at Playworks, is now vice president of strategy and board affairs at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. To Tsang has also joined the $8.5 billion community fund as senior vice president of information technology and knowledge management. He was most recently head of information technology at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Karen Gordon, fractional chief financial officer at Apparatus Solutions, has joined the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center as chief financial officer.

Steven Hairston, vice president for institutional advancement and chief operating officer at Saint Augustine’s University, has been named director of development at Miles College.

Deepa Krishna has been appointed director of finance and accounting at New England Public Media. Previously she served as the accounting manager for Bradley International Airport and five general aviation airports at the Connecticut Airport Authority.

Mirenda Meghelli, program officer at the D.C. Bar Foundation, will now serve as senior manager for policy and programs at the Women’s Funding Network.

Jesse Pisors will join Texas A&M University at San Antonio as vice president for university relations and advancement on March 28. He most recently worked at the University of Houston-Victoria as vice president for advancement and external relations.

Elizabeth Power Robison, a fundraising consultant for nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles, has been appointed chief advancement officer at Heluna Health.

Heather Taylor-Miesle will join American Rivers as senior vice president for advocacy and regional conservation. Most recently she was executive director of the Ohio Environmental Council and president of OEC Action Fund.

Bill Warren, associate vice president for institutional partnerships at the Catholic University of America, will now be chief philanthropy officer at the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. He will oversee major gifts and fundraising for its new nonprofit journalism project, the Baltimore Banner, which is expected to begin operations this summer.

Departures

Kim Ford, president and CEO of Martha’s Table, has resigned after three years, citing harassment by the organization’s Board of Directors, according to news reports.

Sandra Pearson, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan since 2010, is stepping down. She has worked there since 2008.

Legacy

Robert Sharpe Jr. died February 3 at age 68. He founded Encore, a philanthropic-management consulting firm in Memphis, and previously led the Sharpe Group, a planned-giving firm that his father started in 1963.

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