Open Society Foundations
Sandra Breka has become the $18 billion foundations’ vice president and chief operating officer. For the past five years, she was CEO of the Robert Bosch Foundation.
In addition, Binaifer Nowrojee has been promoted from vice president for organizational transformation to vice president for regions.
Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles
Aaron Lerner, a rabbi and executive director of Hillel at the University of California at Los Angeles, has been named its next president and CEO. He will start his new role on January 2.
Lerner will succeed Marvin Schotland, who has led the $1.6 billion community fund since 1989 and is now retiring.
Enterprise Community Partners
Lori Chatman, president of its capital division, and Drew Warshaw, chief operating officer, have stepped up as interim co-CEOs.
They succeed Priscilla Almodovar, who will become CEO of the federal mortgage lender Fannie Mae on December 5.
Sesame Workshop
Brett Robinson has been named chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance, technology, and facilities.
Most recently, he served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Unicef USA.
More New CEOs
Katie Campos, civic-learning lead at the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, will be the first executive director of the Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy. The group was established last year and has received a grant of $50 million from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation to transform the former LaSalle Park into Ralph Wilson Park, a 90-acre waterfront space on the shores of Lake Erie in Buffalo, N.Y.
David Janes has been hired as executive director of the Global Citizens Initiative. Most recently he was chief advancement officer at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and president and CEO of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Foundation.
Maureen McBride, chief operating officer at the United Network for Organ Sharing, will now serve as its interim CEO. She succeeds Brian Shepard, who departed in September after 10 years there.
Kerri Osborne, chief development officer, and Stephen Powell, chief programs and partnerships officer, have been promoted to serve as co-executive directors of the National Cares Mentoring Movement.
Rob Simmelkjaer, founder and CEO of Persona Media, has been named CEO of the New York Road Runners, the nonprofit group that organizes the New York City Marathon. He succeeds Kerin Hempel, who is departing in November after two years.
Think Together
The education group in California has hired four new leaders of its programs and field operations.
Jesse Durkin has been appointed general manager of the Santa Fe Springs region. Most recently he was senior program director at City Year.
Jacqueline Licardie, interim CEO of After-School All-Stars, is now executive general manager of field operations.
Susan Metcalf, a former elementary and middle-school principal in Yorba Linda, Calif., has been named executive general manager of program operations.
Christopher Miree, executive director of the San Bernardino Family YMCA, has joined as general manager of the Riverside County region.
Other Notable Appointments
Josem Diaz, vice president of institutional advancement and alumni affairs at Eureka College, is now vice president for development business operations at the United Service Organizations.
Julia Greenburger, chief of staff at the design agency 1RIC, has been appointed associate director of grants and gifts at the Francis J. Greenburger Foundation. She is the daughter of Francis Greenburger, who established this $14 million foundation in 2001. He is the founder of the New York investment firm Time Equities.
Anuradha Gupta has joined the Sabin Vaccine Institute as president of global immunization. Most recently she was deputy CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Noreen Levitt has been appointed vice president of mission advancement at Lighthouse Central Florida. She previously served as vice president of philanthropy at Westminster Communities of Florida.
Ramona Liberoff, CEO of the Spring Accelerator, has joined the World Resources Institute as executive director of its Platform to Accelerate the Circular Economy.
Shaheen Towles, communications director at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, is now associate director of communications at the Duke Endowment.
Joseph Villela has joined the California Wellness Foundation as director of government relations. Most recently he was policy director at Loyola Law School’s Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative.
Jane Weaver has been hired as director of development at the Annapolis Opera Company. She is the president of Weaver and Weaver, a Maryland consulting firm that specializes in nonprofit management and development.
Departures
Karen Russo Burke will step down after 10 years as artistic director of the Dayton Ballet at the end of the 2022-2023 season.
Alice Lutz plans to retire after 13 years as CEO of Triangle Family Services, pending the selection of a successor.
Caryl Stern has left after three years as executive director of the Walton Family Foundation. Her replacement has not yet been named. Read more in the Chronicle about what her departure means for the $6.7 billion foundation.
Legacies
Darwin Davis, a nonprofit-management consultant and principal of Bac Enterprises, died on September 25. He led many nonprofit groups over the course of his career, including the Black Agency Executives, the Human Services Council of New York City, the Black Equity Alliance, and the New York Urban League.
Audrey Evans, a pediatric oncologist who co-founded Ronald McDonald House Charities, died on September 29 at age 97. While working as chief of pediatric oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she recognized the need for temporary housing for the families of her patients, leading her to help establish the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1974. She later co-founded the St. James School, also in Philadelphia, after her retirement from medicine in 2009.
Dave Foreman, an environmental activist who co-founded Earth First and the Rewilding Institute, died from interstitial lung disease on September 19. He was 75.
William LaMothe, a longtime trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, died on September 21. He was 95. He became CEO of the Kellogg Company in 1950 and retired from the foundation’s board in 2000. He also served as a co-trustee of the Kellogg Foundation Trust until 1997.
Gwen Walden, a senior managing director at Arabella Advisors, died from cancer on September 26. She served on the boards of the Surdna Foundation, the East Bay Community Foundation, and Breast Cancer Prevention Partners.
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