New Orleans Community Fund Chief to Step Down

Albert Ruesga will step down as president of the Greater New Orleans Foundation at the end of June, ending a seven-year run leading the community grant maker.

After a short break, Mr. Ruesga plans to move to Lyon, France, to concentrate full-time on a nonprofit consulting business, Daylight Consulting, that he co-founded with his husband, Max Niedzwieski.

“He moved to New Orleans to support me and I’m happy to return the favor,” Mr. Ruesga said.

Reflecting on his time at the foundation, he said he was happy the grant maker had helped 9,500 families move into more affordable housing and increased people’s awareness of the fragility of the economy and ecosystem on the state’s Gulf Coast. But, he said, such work was just a “drop in the ocean” compared with what needs to be done.

In a recent blog post, Mr. Ruesga called himself a critic of philanthropy who has “poked fun at pompous CEOs and bloviating program officers.”

In the post, which marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, Mr. Ruesga called on philanthropic leaders to stop celebrating the estimated $3 billion in private contributions funneled to New Orleans after the storm. Instead of lavishing attention on the past, he wrote, philanthropic leaders need to question why “current realities are as harrowing” for poor New Orleans residents, despite so much attention from donors and nonprofits.

Among his achievements are the addition of a department committed to “organizational effectiveness” and the creation of GiveNOLA Day, an online 24-hour fundraising campaign, the foundation said in a statement.

“We are incredibly grateful for Albert’s leadership,” Cheryl Teamer, the foundation’s board chair said in the statement. “Thanks to his extraordinary vision and keen intellect, the foundation and its work have been significantly transformed.”

The organization manages more than $318 million in assets, including 700 donor-advised funds. In 2014 it distributed nearly $29 million in grants to groups throughout Southeast Louisiana.

Before joining the foundation, Mr. Ruesga was vice president for programs and communications at the Meyer Foundation. He was also the founding director of New Ventures in Philanthropy, an initiative of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.

Russell Reynolds Associates, a search firm, will help the community fund in New Orleans find Mr. Ruesga’s replacement. The job will be posted on the grant maker’s website in January.

Note: This story was updated at 2:26 p.m. with additional material on Mr. Ruesga’s plans.

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