James Beard Foundation
Clare Reichenbach, the founder of CJJR Consulting in New York, has become the culinary-arts charity’s new chief executive. She replaces Susan Ungaro, who served as president for 11 years before stepping down at the end of December.
National Women’s Law Center
Nancy Withbroe has returned to the legal-aid charity as chief operating officer and chief of staff. Late last year, the group organized the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which has attracted major media attention and celebrity donations in the past month. Ms. Withbroe previously worked at the law center as vice president for development and strategy from 2013 to 2016 and returns from the Greater Washington Community Foundation where she was vice president for philanthropic engagement and chief of staff.
Service Year Alliance
Robert Simmons III, vice president for strategy and innovation for the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, has been named president of this organization, which offers paid opportunities for young people to serve their communities.
More New CEOs
Karl Blischke joined the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts as executive director. He previously worked for the State of Florida in several capacities at its Department of Economic Opportunity and the Governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development. He has succeeded Philip Horn, who has retired after 25 years at the council.
Michelle Decker, CEO of Rural Action, will now lead the Community Foundation, which serves Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California.
Steven Derks has become president and CEO of Quick Leonard Kieffer, an executivesearch firm for hospitals and health systems, professional associations, and other large nonprofits and foundations. He previously led the Muscular Dystrophy Association from 2012 until 2017.
Amanda Gonzalez, a lawyer and affiliate faculty member teaching Chicanos and the law at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, is the new executive director of Colorado Common Cause.
Weinberg Foundation
The Baltimore foundation has announced promotions for four program officials.
Rachel Duden has been promoted to program officer for U.S. education. She has worked at the foundation for four years, managing grant making in education, general community support, and the small-grants program.
Amy Kleine, program director for basic human needs, health, and disabilities, will add grant making to veterans’ groups to her portfolio.
Aaron Merki, program director for older-adult services, has been promoted to managing director for programs and grants. He will concurrently serve both roles.
Kate Sorestad has been named program director for priority communities. For six years, she has led the foundation’s Library Project, grant making in northeastern Pennsylvania, and veterans program.
Other Notable Appointments
Brendan Bannigan, who was vice president of individual giving at Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, is now the vice president of development and leadership gifts at Northwestern Health Sciences University.
Marnie Dacko, associate director of Development at West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has joined Westfield State University as major-gifts officer.
Natasha D’Souza, associate director of development at United Way of Miami-Dade, has joined the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University as director of development.
Patrice Green has been named program officer for the Surdna Foundation’s Strong Local Economies portfolio. She most recently served as the community liaison to the West Philadelphia Promise Zone at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Tatiana Hernandez has come to the Kresge Foundation as senior program officer for the foundation’s arts & culture program. She was most recently the arts director at the Hemera Foundation, in Boulder, Colo.
Stacey Mitchell, vice president for people and equity at Educators for Excellence, was tapped as the new director of people at the Obama Foundation.
Cynthia Muller, program and portfolio officer for mission-driven investments at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has been promoted to director of mission investments.
Elena Nunez, executive director of Colorado Common Cause, has joined Common Cause’s national office as the director of state operations and ballot measure strategies.
Marilyn Waite, who previously directed the clean-energy practice at Village Capital, has joined the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as program officer for climate finance.
Jeremy Weaver, associate vice president of major gifts for alumni affairs and development at Cornell University, has joined the Virginia Tech College of Engineering as its assistant dean of advancement.
Thomas Woodward, director of institutional advancement at the Harvard Art Museums, has been tapped as chief advancement officer at the Clark Art Institute, in Williamstown, Mass.
Departures
Sherry Magill, who has led the Jessie Ball duPont Fund for 25 years, will retire in June. After Magill’s departure, Mary Kress Littlepage, who has served as a consultant to the fund, will serve as interim president until a permanent successor is found. Magill is also a former chair of the Council on Foundations.
John Reddington, who has led the Morris Animal Foundation since 2016, will retire this month. Tiffany Grunert, the foundation’s vice president for marketing and operations, has been named acting president and CEO while the $78.5 million grant maker searches for a permanent successor.
Legacies
Landrum Bolling, a humanitarian activist who served as president of the Council on Foundations from 1978 until 1985, died January 17 in Arlington, Va. He was 104.
Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2001 until his retirement in 2009, died on January 8. He was 79. During his tenure at the federal arts agency, he developed and oversaw We the People and Picturing America, which made American history and art more accessible to students at American schools and public libraries.
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