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Harvard Chemistry Professor Will Be Next President of Kavli Foundation

By  M.J. Prest
November 20, 2020
Cynthia M. Friend to join The Kavli Foundation as its next president.
Business Wire
Cynthia Friend, a professor of chemistry at Harvard University, will become the next president of the Kavli Foundation, which focuses on advancing science to benefit society.

Kavli Foundation

Cynthia Friend, a professor of chemistry at Harvard University, will become the next president of this Los Angeles foundation, which has $630 million in assets and focuses its grant making on advancing science to benefit society. She has been part of Harvard’s faculty since 1982 and will begin her new job on January 1, 2021.

Friend will follow Bob Conn, who is retiring after 12 years there.

Daniels Fund

Hanna Skandera has been named the $1.5 billion foundation’s new president and CEO, effective December 15. She is a member of its Board of Directors and CEO of Mile High Strategies.

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Kavli Foundation

Cynthia Friend, a professor of chemistry at Harvard University, will become the next president of this Los Angeles foundation, which has $630 million in assets and focuses its grant making on advancing science to benefit society. She has been part of Harvard’s faculty since 1982 and will begin her new job on January 1, 2021.

Friend will follow Bob Conn, who is retiring after 12 years there.

Daniels Fund

Hanna Skandera has been named the $1.5 billion foundation’s new president and CEO, effective December 15. She is a member of its Board of Directors and CEO of Mile High Strategies.

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Skandera will succeed Hank Brown, who has served as its interim leader since May 1.

Colorado Health Foundation

Amy Latham, vice president of philanthropy, will be promoted to chief impact officer at the $2.6 billion foundation in March. She will succeed Bruce Byington, who is retiring after four years in the position.

In addition, Kelley Simon, senior accounting manager, has been promoted to chief accounting and compliance officer. She will assume her new role in February upon the retirement of Andrew Ritz, who has worked at the foundation since 1995.

Commonfund

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George Suttles, director of research, has been promoted to executive director of the Commonfund Institute. Commonfund manages investments for endowments, foundations, and philanthropic organizations.

In addition, Allison Kaspriske will now serve as a director at the Commonfund Institute, leading programs and research projects. Most recently she was an associate director at Commonfund.

More New CEOs

Terry Albanese, a fundraising consultant in Charlotte, N.C., and former senior development officer at the Teen Health Connection, has joined the Muggsy Bogues Family Foundation as consulting executive director.

Nicole Epps, managing director of programs and policy, has been promoted to executive director of the World Childhood Foundation USA, effective January 1. She will succeed Joanna Rubinstein, who is stepping down as president and CEO at the end of the year.

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Klaudio Rodriguez, interim executive director of the Bronx Museum of the Arts since January, will continue leading the organization permanently. He joined the museum as deputy director in 2017. Shirley Solomon, director of government and institutional giving, will now become deputy director.

Serge Seiden, managing director and producer, will now be artistic director of the Mosaic Theater Company on an interim basis. He follows Ari Roth, who is resigning six years after he founded this arts group in Washington.

Other Notable Appointments

Kevin Barszcz, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and president and director of marketing at Chicago Veterans, is joining the Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity as its veteran-engagement specialist.

Allyn Brooks-LaSure has been named vice president for communications at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Most recently he was executive vice president for communications at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

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Meg Galloway Goldthwaite, chief marketing officer at National Public Radio, has been named chief marketing and communications officer at the Nature Conservancy.

Adrienne Lawson has joined Pride Industries as director of diversity, inclusion, and compliance. Most recently she was senior director for health equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University of California at Davis Health.

Susan Leath, director of the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, has been appointed chief operating officer at GroundTruth.

R. Lillianne Macias, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of New Haven, is joining Casa de Esperanza as director of research and evaluation of its National Latin@ Network.

Tatiana Marshall, manager of online giving at the New York Public Library, will now be senior manager of digital marketing and fundraising at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

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Adam Meyerson, who announced in March that he was stepping down as president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, has been tapped as a vice president at Stand Together, a charity founded by the billionaire Charles Koch that was previously known as the Seminar Network. He will start his new role in January.

Monecia Taylor, associate vice president for principal gifts at Virginia Tech, has been promoted to senior associate vice president for advancement.

Departures

Lee Briccetti, executive director of Poets House for more than 30 years, will retire in 2021. The poetry group says it is suspending operations until late next year because of budgetary concerns brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat, who founded the charity that is now known as the Center for Spirituality and Practice in 1972, are departing. A new executive director has not yet been named.

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Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Executive LeadershipWork and Careers
M.J. Prest
M.J. Prest has been writing about major gifts, grant making, and executive moves for the Chronicle since 2004.
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