Leadership Shift Underway at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Leadership Shift Underway at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Sue Desmond-Hellmann announced last month that she is departing the foundation and that Mark Suzman, the foundation’s president of global policy & advocacy and chief strategy officer, will become the new CEO on February 1.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Desmond-Hellmann, who is 62, cited a need to care for her health and her family in a statement released by the foundation.

Before joining the foundation in 2007, Suzman served in a number of roles at the United Nations. Earlier in his career, he was a correspondent for the Financial Times in Johannesburg, London, and Washington, D.C.

Under Desmond-Hellmann’s leadership, the foundation opened several new streams of grant making. After supporting a two-year study, Gates committed $158 million to reducing poverty in the United States. The foundation plowed tens of millions into achieving gender equity, including a $170 million commitment to support research, community organizing, and policy development in India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

City Year

City Year Alumnus to Head National Organization

James Balfanz, who has been president of the service group for nine years, has been promoted to CEO. His association with the group goes back to 1993, when he served as a City Year AmeriCorps member in Boston.

Smithsonian Names Ex-CIA Official as Deputy Secretary

Meroe Park has been hired as deputy secretary and chief operating officer, beginning January 27.

She spent 27 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, rising to become executive director and chief operating officer before leaving in 2017. Most recently she was executive vice president of the Partnership for Public Service.

Philanthropy Watchdog Group Gets New Senior Leader

José Domínguez, director of development partnerships for the mid-Atlantic region at the League of Conservation Voters and a fellowship coach at the Obama Foundation, has been named vice president and chief operating officer of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a newly created position.

Save the Children U.S. Appoints New Chief Executive

Janti Soeripto will now become CEO. She joined the global humanitarian organization in June as president and chief operating officer.

Soeripto succeeds Carolyn Miles, who is leaving after 22 years, including eight years in the top role.

Elton John AIDS Foundation

Fredrick Anyanwu, associate vice president of resource development at CARE, has been appointed chief philanthropy officer at the Elton John AIDS Foundation, based in New York.

New Foundation Roles

Sam Gill will be the first chief program officer at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and senior vice president. He has worked there since 2015, most recently as vice president for community and national initiatives.

Nichol Higdon, vice president of operations and executive director of the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities, has joined the $2.3 billion McKnight Foundation as vice president of finance and operations.

Michele Moore, chief communications officer at the American Civil Liberties Union, has joined the Ford Foundation as vice president of global communications. She succeeds Alfred Ironside, who is stepping down after 14 years.

Departures

Brad Whitehead plans to step down as president of the Fund for Our Economic Future, a position he has held since the group was created in 2004. He will remain with the organization as senior adviser of special projects, beginning in March.

Robert Greenstein, founder and president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, will step down at year’s end. He has guided the organization for nearly 40 years.

Legacy

Pete Frates, who inspired the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a fundraising movement that went viral on social media in 2014 and raised more than $200 million, died on December 9. He was 34. He died of the debilitating condition often called Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Sue Desmond-Hellmann’s last as Desmond-Hellman.