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Top Earners Among Community-Foundation CEOs

By  Drew Lindsay and 
Joshua Hatch
February 15, 2018
Emmett Carson of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation made $865,715 in 2015.
Photo by Edward Caldwell
Emmett Carson of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation made $865,715 in 2015.

Community-foundation leaders are often influential players in a region’s philanthropy, and they are paid accordingly. They don’t make the million-dollar salaries awarded to the CEOs of many hospitals, universities, and national nonprofits — no community-foundation leader appears to earn seven figures — but many get a good deal more than the leaders of their grantee organizations.

Here are the compensation figures of 40 top leaders of community foundations with at least $35 million in contributions for 2014 or 2015. Compensation includes base salary, bonus, benefits, and any deferred compensation if paid out in that year.

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Community-foundation leaders are often influential players in a region’s philanthropy, and they are paid accordingly. They don’t make the million-dollar salaries awarded to the CEOs of many hospitals, universities, and national nonprofits — no community-foundation leader appears to earn seven figures — but many get a good deal more than the leaders of their grantee organizations.

Here are the compensation figures of 40 top leaders of community foundations with at least $35 million in contributions for 2014 or 2015. Compensation includes base salary, bonus, benefits, and any deferred compensation if paid out in that year.

Top ExecutiveSalary YearOrganizationContributions to OrganizationTotal Compensation
Emmett Carson 2015 Silicon Valley Community Foundation $1,030,271,539 $865,715
Paul Grogan 2015 Boston Foundation $104,152,013 $651,398
Ronald Richard 2014 Cleveland Foundation $43,324,109 $581,116
Michael Marsicano 2015 Foundation for the Carolinas $347,666,005 $543,841
Phil Lakin Jr. 2015 Tulsa Community Foundation $89,836,606 $431,475
Maxwell King 2015 Pittsburgh Foundation $43,984,887 $419,549
Fred Blackwell 2015 San Francisco Foundation $150,842,426 $419,009
Brent Christopher (former) 2014 Communities Foundation of Texas $104,840,784 $414,193
Kelvin Taketa (former) 2015 Hawaii Community Foundation $41,532,104 $412,421
Douglas Kridler 2015 Columbus Foundation $125,156,815 $384,972
Max Williams 2015 Oregon Community Foundation $68,470,235 $375,024
Stephen Maislin 2014 Greater Houston Community Foundation $203,038,854 $373,680
Sandra Vargas (former) 2015 Minneapolis Foundation $53,341,705 $354,825
Deborah Wilkerson 2015 Greater Kansas City Community Foundation $263,140,571 $344,093
Alicia Philipp 2014 Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta $76,894,630 $338,629
Marla Williams 2015 Community First Foundation $44,579,186 $330,124
Carleen Rhodes (former) 2014 Saint Paul Foundation $45,214,117 $329,080
William Ginsberg 2015 Community Foundation for Greater New Haven $64,776,071 $323,881
Hans Dekker 2015 Community Foundation of New Jersey $100,633,692 $323,551
Shelley Hoss 2015 Orange County Community Foundation $76,560,690 $318,752
Javier Alberto Soto 2015 Miami Foundation $58,430,912 $318,640
Darcy Oman (former) 2015 Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia $88,721,684 $314,493
Chris Andersen 2015 InFaith Community Foundation $37,535,935 $286,567
Ellen Lehman 2015 Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee $40,799,162 $286,409
Bruce McNamer 2015 Community Foundation for the National Capital Region $48,887,260 $285,426
Mary Jalonick 2015 Dallas Foundation $70,719,260 $285,259
Meredith Jones (former) 2015 Maine Community Foundation $41,033,986 $267,855
Richard Ober 2015 New Hampshire Charitable Foundation $59,342,040 $257,665
Frederick Sears II (former) 2014 Delaware Community Foundation $39,703,135 $244,975
Steve Leach (former) 2015 Christian Community Foundation $46,316,149 $244,496
Dennis Noll 2015 San Antonio Area Foundation $543,256,052 $235,923
Anne W. Scott (former) 2015 Charlottesville Area Community Foundation $55,281,923 $227,062
Ellen Katz 2015 Greater Cincinnati Foundation $99,925,738 $200,278
David Miller (former) 2015 Denver Foundation $66,897,607 $197,957
Kristine Knous 2015 Greater Des Moines Community Foundation $46,469,397 $189,010
James Pendergast (former) 2014 Austin Community Foundation for the Capital Area $38,066,382 $187,846
Heather Larkin 2015 Arkansas Community Foundation $52,575,296 $172,939
Christopher Nanni 2015 Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham $75,836,055 $156,734
Tony Mestres 2014 Seattle Foundation $70,157,379 $155,714
Patricia Melton 2015 Community Foundation for Greater New Haven $64,776,071 $142,324

Plus, last week Silicon Valley announced its assets had grown to $13.5 billion, making it the third largest philanthropy in the United States.

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Chronicle subscribers: See our searchable database of charity CEO salary information going back to 2012. The database is updated regularly as the IRS makes information available.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Foundation GivingExecutive LeadershipWork and Careers
Drew Lindsay
Drew is a longtime magazine writer and editor who joined the Chronicle of Philanthropy in 2014.
Joshua Hatch
Joshua started at the Chronicle in 2012 as Senior Editor for Data and Interactives. He is now the Director of Digital Platforms and Audience.
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