United Way Worldwide
Angela Williams will be its next president and CEO, beginning October 15. She has served as president and CEO of Easterseals since 2018.
Williams will be the first woman as well as the first Black person to helm United Way’s international headquarters. She will succeed Neeraj Mehta, who has served as its interim leader since Brian Gallagher departed in February.
Nathan Cummings Foundation
Kavita Nandini Ramdas will become president and CEO of the $444 million foundation on October 4. She currently leads the Open Society Foundations’ Women’s Rights Program.
Ramdas will succeed Rey Ramsey, who has served as interim president and CEO since the departure of Sharon Alpert last year. Ramsey will continue serving on its Board of Trustees.
Greenpeace USA
Ebony Twilley Martin, chief operating officer, has been promoted to co-executive director. She will serve alongside Annie Leonard.
Twilley Martin has worked at the environmental group since 2013 and will be its first leader who is a Black woman.
Human Rights Campaign and the HRC Foundation
Joni Madison, chief operating officer and chief of staff, will step in as interim president of the two groups that work toward equal rights for LGBTQ people.
She follows Alphonso David, who was fired on Monday following a board investigation into his connections to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York after Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment. Before joining HRC in 2019, David had worked as a lawyer for Cuomo as the governor’s chief counsel, deputy secretary, and counsel for civil rights.
LeadersTrust
Sidney Hargro, president of the Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, will be the inaugural executive director of LeadersTrust as it spins off from the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund.
Read more about LeadersTrust, which has made $30 million in grants to date to support nonprofit leadership and strengthen charities.
More New CEOs
Carol Argento has been promoted to president and CEO of the Charles Hayden Foundation. She has worked there since 1999, most recently as vice president. Argento succeeds Kenneth Merin, who led the $343 million grant maker in New York for 21 years.
Johanna Burton, executive director of the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University, has been tapped as executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. When she starts on November 1, she will lead alongside Klaus Biesenbach, the museum’s artistic director.
Ghida Dagher, director of appointments for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, will be the next president of New American Leaders and the New American Leaders Action Fund.
Lisa Dailey has been promoted from director of advocacy to executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, which works to eliminate barriers to treatment for people with severe mental illness. She has served as acting executive director since January when John Snook departed after five years at the helm.
Ethelind Kaba has been appointed executive director of the Ann Bancroft Foundation. She was previously vice president for external affairs at the Center for Economic Inclusion.
Robert (Jay) Malone, executive director of the History of Science Society, has been named executive director of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.
Lillian Aponte Miranda, manager of the children’s program at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, has been promoted to co-executive director. She will work alongside Lauren Dasse, who has been its executive director for eight years.
Sean Perryman, director of social-impact policy at the Internet Association, will be the first executive director of the Dr. N. Joyce Payne Center for Social Justice at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Jaspreet Randhawa, founder of the money-laundering-detection software company ResourceVerified, has been hired as CEO of Win This Fight, an organization working to end human trafficking.
Ellen Ray will be promoted from chief strategy and solutions officer to CEO of Chicago Cares on November 1. She will succeed Jenné Myers, who is leaving after eight years.
Charles Ryan has been appointed president and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. A genitourinary oncologist, he most recently was director of the Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation Division in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.
Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, has been promoted to president.
New Top Fundraisers
Sheena Brown, director of partner resource development at the Center for Popular Democracy, has been hired as director of resource mobilization at the Decolonizing Wealth Project.
LaTeshia Ellerson is now director of institutional philanthropy at the Theatre Communications Group. Previously she was director of development at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company.
Mary Gresch, interim senior vice president for advancement at the University of Washington since July 2020, has been installed in the role permanently. Previously she was its vice president for communications and marketing.
Ryan Riley, special assistant to the president and executive director for government, corporate, and foundation relations at Elizabethtown College, has been named vice president for advancement at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.
Valoree Vargo, interim vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement at Kent State University since June 2020, will continue in the role permanently. Previously she was senior associate vice president for the Division of Institutional Advancement, which is now the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement.
Molly Watson, senior development and partnerships manager at Courage California, is now deputy director at the California Donor Table and California Donor Table Fund, where she will oversee fundraising and partnerships.
Candace Winkler, president and CEO of the Berkshire United Way in Massachusetts, has been named chief development and strategy officer at Zero to Three.
Other Notable Appointments
Katharine Emerson is joining the World Food Program USA as chief of staff. Previously she was director of the political-affairs team at the pharmaceutical company Bayer, where she oversaw its U.S. political-engagement strategy and managed its political-action committee.
Michael Grossman, managing director of private credit at New Island Capital Management, is now managing director of impact investments at Social Finance.
Timi Lewis, founder and principal of Lewis Media Company, has joined the Urban Resource Institute as vice president of marketing and communications.
Michael Murphy, chief marketing officer at the Cleveland Foundation, has been selected as vice president for communications at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Kimberly Noble, chief financial officer at St. Johns Country Day School, has been hired as chief financial officer at the Cummer Museum of Arts and Gardens, in Jacksonville, Fla.
Stephanie Ong has been appointed vice president of communications at Change Consulting, a social-justice communications agency. Previously she served as director of communications at the Education Trust-West.
Janeen Speer, vice president of talent at Shopify, is now chief people officer at Benevity.
Christina Travers, chief financial officer at Working Solutions, will return to Local Initiatives Support Corporation as its chief financial officer on November 1. She previously worked there for more than a decade. Travers will follow Michael Hearne, who is retiring after seven years in the position.
Departures
Tracey Brown, CEO of the American Diabetes Association since 2018, will step down on October 6. She is joining Walgreens as president of retail products and chief customer officer.
Sarah Greenberger, senior vice president for conservation policy at the National Audubon Society, has departed to become associate deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.
