Marguerite Casey Foundation Appoints New CEO

Marguerite Casey Foundation

Neal Keny-Guyer, who led Mercy Corps since 1994, stepped down last month after the Oregonian published an extensive investigation showing that the charity’s top management ignored credible allegations that its co-founder, Ellsworth Culver, sexually abused his daughter.

Beth deHamel, chief financial officer at the humanitarian aid group, will step in as interim CEO.

The Oregonian published an investigation of allegations by Tania Culver Humphrey that she was sexually abused by her father. The article revealed that she was rebuffed when she took her allegations to the organization, once in the early 1990s and again last year.

Keny-Guyer’s resignation follows that of Barnes Ellis, the organization’s corporate secretary and senior legal counsel, and Robert Newell’s resignation from the Board of Directors.

Marguerite Casey Foundation Appoints New CEO

Carmen Rojas, founder of the Workers Lab, will become president and CEO of the $800 million Marguerite Casey Foundation next summer. She currently serves on its Board of Directors and will move into her new role on June 1.

Rojas succeeds Luz Vega-Marquis, who has led the fund since 2001 and is now retiring.

McKnight Foundation CEO Announces Retirement

Kate Wolford, who has been president of the McKnight Foundation for 13 years, is leaving her role at the $2.3 billion foundation in Minneapolis. Debby Landesman, its board chair, will serve as interim president until a permanent successor has been hired.

Melville Charitable Trust Appoints New Leader

Susan Thomas, a program director at the Melville Charitable Trust, has been appointed its new CEO. She will take over from Janice Elliott, who is retiring after seven years as executive director.

The organization, which has $155 million in assets, focuses exclusively on fighting homelessness.

Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund Hires Obama Aide as Chief

Tina Tchen has been tapped to lead the legal-aid group, which is helping survivors of workplace sexual harassment. She is a lawyer and Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff. More recently, she has been working at the Southern Poverty Law Center to investigate claims of workplace misconduct at the charity.

Tchen succeeds Lisa Borders, who stepped down in February after just four months on the job following an accusation of sexual harassment lodged against her son.

Real-Estate Executive to Head New York’s 92nd Street Y

Seth Pinsky will become CEO of the 92n Street Y in January.

Currently, he is an executive vice president of RXR Realty, which develops commercial, retail, and residential real estate in New York. Until 2013, he led the New York City Economic Development Corporation for 10 years.

He succeeds Henry Timms, who became president of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the spring.

Global Philanthropy Forum Picks Ploughshares Leader

Philip Yun, executive director and chief operating officer of the Ploughshares Fund, has been named to head World Affairs and the Global Philanthropy Forum.

He replaces Jane Wales, who is now devoting full time to her role as the vice president for philanthropy and society at the Aspen Institute and executive director of its Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation.

Ford Motor Company Fund Selects Chief

Mary Culler will become president of the car company’s corporate-giving arm, which has a budget of $55 million. She will continue to serve as chief of staff for Ford’s Office of the Executive Chairman and development director for its Michigan Central Station redevelopment, in Detroit. She succeeds Jim Vella, who is retiring after more than 31 years at the automaker

More New CEOs

Bob Pilon, chief development and partnerships officer at ONE, the charity founded by the U2 lead singer Bono, will now serve as president and chief growth officer at Reform Alliance. He will report to Van Jones, CEO of this criminal-justice organization, which was founded in part by the musicians Meek Mill and Jay-Z.

Kristin Purdy, a strategist for GPS Impact, has been tapped as executive director of the Funders’ Committee on Civic Participation.

Other Notable Appointments

Stephen Rockwell has been appointed chief ratings technology officer at Charity Navigator. He comes to the charity watchdog from the American Friends Service Committee, where he served as chief information and technology officer.

Rashida Bumbray will serve as the inaugural director of culture and art at the Open Society Foundations. She has worked at the grant maker as senior program manager of its Arts Exchange since 2015.

J. Bob Alotta, executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice for the past eight years, has been appointed vice president for global programs.

Departures

Dan Busby, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability for 12 years, will retire and become president emeritus by the spring of 2020.

Katherine Lorenz, CEO of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation since 2011, intends to step down, pending the selection of a successor.

Greg Berman is leaving the Center for Court Innovation. He was one of the founders of the organization in 1996, which serves as a partnership between the New York State Court System and the Fund for the City of New York. He became executive director in 2002.

Donna Dean will retire as chief investment officer of the Rockefeller Foundation at the end of the year. She has served in the role since 2001. Since Dean joined the foundation in 1995, its endowment has grown from $2.4 billion to $4.4 billion.

Legacies

William Barron Hilton, chairman of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, died in September at age 91. In 2007, he pledged 97 percent of his fortune to the foundation established by his father. Barron Hilton’s bequest is now expected to be worth $3.4 billion, bringing the foundation’s endowment to $6.3 billion.

William White, who recently retired as CEO of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, died last month at age 82. His son, Ridgway White, succeeded him as CEO last fall. (The Mott Foundation is a financial supporter of the Chronicle.)

Deborah Marrow, who retired as director of the Getty Foundation at the end of 2018, died on October 1 at age 70.

Morton Mandel, who was the 2019 winner of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, died on October 16 at age 98. With his late brothers, he co-founded the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation, and he and his wife founded the Morton and Barbara Mandel Family Foundation. His gifts included $23 million earlier this year to the Cleveland Clinic, $10 million to the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in 2014, and more than $30 million to Jewish educational and cultural causes in Palm Beach County, Fla. The Mandel brothers founded Premier Industrial Corporation, a Cleveland distributor of electrical equipment.