NPR Appoints New CEO (Transitions)

Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation

Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation

Phillip Henderson, who was president of the Surdna Foundation until last year, will now be CEO of this foundation based in Hong Kong.

Council on Foundations

David Kass has joined the grant-makers group as vice president of government affairs and strategic communications. He most recently served as president of the Council for a Strong America.

NPR

John Lansing will be the next CEO of NPR, succeeding Jarl Mohn. He is currently the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government group that oversees Voice of America, Radio and Television Martí, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Scripps Network

Opportunity Agenda

Ellen Buchman, vice president for strategy and program impact, has been promoted to president. She succeeds Alan Jenkins, who has departed the organization he co-founded after 13 years to become a professor of practice at Harvard Law School.

More New CEOs

Niranjali Amerasinghe, senior associate in the Sustainable Finance Center at the World Resources Institute, has been named executive director of ActionAid USA, which works to find solutions to climate, economic, and human-rights injustices.

Jesse Colvin has joined the Service Year Alliance as CEO. He unsuccessfully ran for office last year as U.S. representative in Maryland’s First District; before that, he was a strategic adviser at Toffler Associates. Colvin succeeds Shirley Sagawa, who has led the charity since its creation in 2016.

William Farrar has been permanently appointed CEO of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute at Ohio State University. Farrar is a surgical oncologist who has served as the two medical organizations’ interim leader for the past two years.

Virginia Knox, a vice president at MDRC who has led the organization’s Families and Children Policy Area since 2004, has been promoted to president, effective October 15. She succeeds Gordon Berlin, who is leaving after 15 years.

Ashwin Vasan, a primary-care physician and an assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, has been named president and CEO of Fountain House, a mental-health organization in New York. He will maintain his academic affiliation with Columbia while leading Fountain House.

Elizabeth Dole Foundation

This charity that supports military families has appointed two new executives.

Rashi Venkataraman Romanoff has joined as vice president for programs and partnerships. She arrives from America’s Health Insurance Plans where she was executive director for prevention and population health.

Jonathan Selter, who most recently led Censeo Consulting Group’s management consulting division, will now be senior vice president for strategy and impact.

Other Notable Appointments

Allison Allen has been appointed chief people officer at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Most recently she was a consultant focusing on diversity, inclusion, and talent-management programs at Gerson Lehrman Group.

C.J. Bannister, chief development officer at Sarasota Military Academy Foundation, and Matt Kahn, regional director of the American Jewish Committee’s San Francisco office, will now both serve as philanthropic advisers at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

Erika Krennerich Chudy will serve as interim vice chancellor for university advancement at Arkansas State University, following the departure of Jason Penry. Chudy has served as the director of planned giving since 2011.

Williamson Evers, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, has joined the Independent Institute as director of its Center on Educational Excellence.

Justin Kiczek, vice president of programs at the Turrell Fund, has been appointed executive vice president at the F.M. Kirby Foundation.

Kathryn Nelson, vice president for institutional advancement at the Punahou School, has been named senior vice president of philanthropy at the Hawaii Community Foundation.

Andrea Northam, senior director of communications, marketing, and media relations at Winona State University, will now serve as interim vice president for university advancement.

Claudia Wilson Randall has been named associate director of the Community Development Network of Maryland. Most recently she was chief operating officer at the Southeast Community Development Corporation, in Baltimore.

Alexandra Villano, vice president for development at Greyston Foundation, will now be director of program development and strategy at Hilarity for Charity. This nonprofit raises money for Alzheimer’s care, prevention, and research and was founded by the actors Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen.

Margaret Vimont, chief operating officer at One Hope United, has been hired as vice president of strategy and service development at Nexus, a charity that provides mental-health services to families in Minnesota.

Departures

J. Bob Alotta, executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, has stepped down after eight years leading the organization.

Kathy Czerny will retire in August 2020 after 15 years as president of the South Shore Conservatory.

Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.

Correction: This article has been updated to say that Ashwin Vasan is currently an assistant professor at Columbia University and will continue his affiliation with the university while leading the Fountain House.