People in Philanthropy 2024

Last updated on January 8th, 2025

In all our workshops and consultations, AP stresses the importance of developing relationships with foundation personnel, especially in your field of interest. Here are a bunch of new foundation folks you may need to contact.

December:

• Former U.S. Rep. Tim Penny plans to retire as CEO of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation in 2025.
• Olivia Rasmussen joined the McKnight Foundation in November 2024 as a program and grants associate for Grants & Program Operations. In this role, Olivia supports all aspects of the grantmaking process for Arts & Culture grantee partners.
• LuAnn Robinson is the new Grants Program Officer at Blandin Foundation.
• The Ford Foundation announced that its world-renowned executive vice president, Hillary Pennington, and Kathy Reich, the director of Ford’s BUILD, are retiring. Ford President Darren Walker will retire at the end of 2025. Wow. Watch this page for program changes after all these folks start moving on.
• Jean Sazevich, the first Executive Director of the relatively new Wilson Foundation (2021), will leave the foundation in January. Jean has also worked for the Horst Rechelbacher Foundation, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the Heading Home Funders Collaborative.
• Mortenson Family Foundation Welcomes New Organizational Development Director
• Mortenson Family Foundation announced Sara Boedecker-Johnston has joined the Foundation as Organizational Development Director, a new position intended to support Foundation grantees.Sara has over 20 years of experience in education, focusing on strategic leadership, change management, collaboration, and systems design. Most recently, she served as Regional Chief of Staff at Educators for Excellence, where she led team meetings, annual planning, project management, and DEI initiatives for the organization’s Minnesota and Chicago teams.

November

• Texas-based mega-funder Arnold Ventures has been focusing its recent work on infrastructure in policy and implementation. They recently hired two new VPs in these areas: Dr. Jenny Schuetz is now the Vice President of Infrastructure Housing and  Sara Schaumburg has joined as Vice President of Advocacy, Communications & External Affairs — Chief of Staff.
• Dr. Erin Bogan is the new K-12 Program Officer at the Gates Foundation. She has led “projects, research, and initiatives funded by the Gates Foundation to support students from K-12 to Postsecondary.”.
• Melanie Jiménez joined Ms. Foundation as a Program Officer. She’s originally from LA but has worked with the San Francisco Foundation. Melanie has expertise in program-related investments and other grantmaking portfolios that focus on anti-displacement efforts and community wealth-building through collective ownership.
• Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation recently hired Tod Herskovitz as Nonprofit Strategies Manager. Tod has twenty years of experience in building nonprofit partnerships.
• Sara Gangelhoff is the new Director of Advocacy and Innovation at the Women’s Foundation of MN. Sara will lead their policy work, building a strong legislative agenda and advocating for statewide policies that advance racial and gender equity.
• The Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation announced that Richard Burns has joined as Interim Executive Director to lead the Foundation into 2025.

October:

• Julie Morita is now President & CEO at the Joyce Foundation. Morita’s appointment was announced in July. She replaces Ellen Alberding, who stepped down after 22 years in the job.
• Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation announced the promotion of Tod Herskovitz to Nonprofit Strategies Manager.
• Briana Stickney is Borealis Philanthropy‘s new Communities Transforming Policing Fund Senior Program Associate.
• Two new folks at McKnight Foundation:  Candra Bennett as Senior Manager of Talent and Culture, and TaMica Tody as the new Executive Assistant, Office of the President.
• Patterson Family Foundation announced Chris Harris as the new Senior Program Officer.
• Former Northeast Bank CEO Belva Rasmussen has passed
  Belva Rasmussen was a longtime Minneapolis banking leader and Minnesota Women Business Owners Hall of Fame inductee. From 1991 until 2010, she was CEO of Minneapolis-based Northeast Bank and was instrumental in establishing the Walter C. Rasmussen-Northeast Bank Foundation in 1993. Her focus on highlighting the arts in Northeast Minneapolis helped foster the development of the now-thriving Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.
• Coffee with MCN’s Coffee with Commissioners: Minnesota’s Office of Grants Management – October 29. Register with Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

September

• McKnight Foundation has promoted three people within the organization:
  –Ben Goldfarb, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Democracy, Media, and Policy
  –Sarah Christiansen, Director of Strategic Climate Initiatives
  –Ben Passer, Program Director, Midwest Climate & Energy

• Darlene Goins is the first Black woman to lead the Wells Fargo Foundation—excellent article in the recent Business Journal.
• Amal Karim is a new Program Officer at ECMC Foundation.
• Cheryl T. Schiele joined Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies as Program Director, Arts & Cultures Domain.
• Caroline Johnson has been appointed as a new co-trustee at Otto Bremer Trust following her mother, Charlotte Johnson’s retirement.
• Tim Wollenzien was appointed the new Executive Director of the Lakes Region Arts Council (Fergus Falls).
• Patrick Calder-Carriere is the new Executive Director of Region 2 Arts Council (Bemidji area).
• Chi-hui Yang is a new film specialist at the Ford Foundation’s Just Films department.
• Peter McLaughlin retired last month as LISC Twin Cities Executive Director, a position he held since 2019. Peter served as a Hennepin County Commissioner and Minneapolis City Council Member for years before taking the job at LISC.
• Briana K. Joyner has joined the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota as their new Executive Vice President of People & Culture.
• Every year, the Black Collective Foundation selects a group of black leaders in the MN philanthropy community to advise on grantees. This year, they named 17 individuals as Community Builders, chosen through an open nomination process.

July-August

• McKnight and Northwest Area Foundation Leadership Changes:|
  –McKnight Team Members Assume New Roles: The Foundation announced Neeraj Mehta as Vice President of Programs; Elizabeth McGeveran as Vice President of Investments; and Tamara Wallace as Governance Liaison and Executive Assistant.
  –Northwest Area Foundation also has two new program officers: Sadikshya Aryal and Carson Faust will seek, recommend, and manage grantmaking that aligns with the Foundation’s mission. Both happen to come from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

• Best Buy Social Impact and Foundation Change
• Olivia Jefferson is now heading up Social Impact and will be the Executive Director of the Best Buy Foundation. Ms. Jefferson has a long history in the corporate social responsibility arena, including Opus, United Health, American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Target. She’s also been involved with United Way and Hope Communities. She spent several years in the Michigan State government in the Adoption field.  –Welcome!
• President Darren Walker to Leave the Ford Foundation
• Ford Foundation president Darren Walker says he will step down from his role by the end of 2025.
• Change in Leadership at Heising-Simons Foundation: The Heising-Simons Foundation yesterday named Jennifer Shipp as Acting President and CEO, effective immediately. Sushma Raman is stepping down from her role as President and CEO to pursue other opportunities and will remain associated with the Foundation as a strategic advisor to the Board through the end of 2024. Ms. Shipp joined the Foundation as General Counsel in April 2020 and has both overseen its legal affairs and provided expertise and guidance for its strategy development, grantmaking, governance, and other areas.

Other Minnesota-Significant Funders Making Changes

• The Kresge Foundation announced  that Ms. Shamar A. Bibbins has been promoted to managing director of the Environment Program. She’s been in at Kresge for a while, but also spent time as a Public Relations executive in the NBA, a screen actor for PepsiCo, Home Depot and other companies.
• JOYCE FOUNDATION: This is BIG NEWS: Between 2018 and 2022, the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation awarded 106 grants worth $17 million to Minnesota groups. Traditionally, Joyce focuses its MN giving in the areas of K-12 education, crime prevention, economic development, gun violence, and the environment. All their giving has a public policy framework.
• They just appointed Dr. Julie Morita President & CEO. She was the Executive Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Commissioner of Chicago’s Public Health Department as well as executives at Group Health (AZ) and the Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Morita is also a pediatrician who did her residency at the University of Minnesota. Will Joyce be moving more toward Health?

Other New Folks…

• Vanan Murugesan, a former Pillsbury United Communities executive, is the new Executive Director of Sahan Journal. Remember to send news releases to Sahan and others announcing your work.
• Women’s Foundation of MN announced Lorena Armstrong-Duarte is the new Director of Institutional Partnerships. Most recently, she’s been working in communications as U. St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota.

June

• Mitchell Price is the new Grants Manager at Arcus Foundation, the DC-based social change foundation focuses on Great Apes and LGBTQIA+ projects.
• Kyle Erickson is the new Director of Rural Grantmaking at Blandin Foundation. Kyle’s been with the foundation for ten years. The new position was created to: “connect, fund and advocate for ideas and people to inspire resourcefulness and move rural places forward.”
• Sandy Ho will become executive director of the Borealis Foundation’s Disability & Philanthropy Forum this month. Most recently, Sandy was the program director of the Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF).
• The Fund for Trans Generation announced Lucas Gauna (he/him) as the new Program Associate.
• The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has a new President Amber D. Miller. Inside Philanthropy wrote up Seven Things to Know About Amber Miller (behind a paywall). Also at the Hewlett Foundation: Hannah Garcia will join the foundation as a Program Officer in the Performing Arts Program.
• Charles Fields is the new Executive Vice President of Programs at The James Irvine Foundation. San Francisco based Irvine, works throughout California.
• Dr. Quintin Williams is now a Senior Program Officer at The Joyce Foundation. Dr. Williams has been a leadership development officer for the foundation and before that worked for Heartland Alliance.
• Liliana Velázquez is the new Program Officer on the Local News initiative with the MacArthur Foundation. This initiative coordinates local news funding in several cities including Minneapolis.
• McKnight Foundation announced a number of new appointments.
  –Neeraj Mehta as Vice President of Programs. Neeraj was McKnight’s inaugural director of learning for six years. Throughout his career, he has focused his efforts at the intersection of organizing, community development, the arts, philanthropy, and research justice.
  –Elizabeth McGeveran was promoted to a newly created vice president of investments role, after shepherding the Foundation’s endowment for the past 10 years.
  -In the Office of the President, Tamara Wallace has been promoted to governance liaison and executive assistant.
  –Tamika Gibson is the new Program & Grants Associate for the Vibrant & Equitable Communities program. She comes from Minnesota Land Trust where she was the Public Grants Manager.

• Tim Thorpe, Minnesota’s connection to the Surnda Foundation and the Andrus family, recently joined the board at Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.
• The nonprofit sector’s largest trade association, Independent Sector ran an interview with The Minnesota Council on Foundations President Susie Brown.
• Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s new Senior Partnership & Events Officer is Lauren Kramer.

May

• The Black Collective Foundation MN announced their newly appointed Board of Directors, Aretha Green Rupert (Carlson Family Foundation), Shawntera Hardy (Amethyst Advisory Group), Jai Winston (Knight Foundation), and Dr. Rachel Hardeman (UM), named this year in the TIME100 Most Influential People in the World list.
• Dr. Reatha Clark King was honored last month by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of MN, with a reception and celebration of her recent biography, “Find a Trail or Blaze One.” Dr. King was a government research chemist (and hidden figure) whose work contributed to the NASA space program. She’s a former president of Metropolitan State University and a former president of General Mills Foundation.
• Olivia Jefferson is the new Social Impact VP at Best Buy, and Executive Director of the Foundation.
• Melinda French Gates has decided to resign as co-chair of the Gates Foundation (the new name), three years after she and Bill announced they were divorcing. She leaves the foundation with a fresh investment of $12.5 billion to devote to her philanthropy (beyond her own $11 billion fortune). French Gates says her giving will center on perennially underfunded women and girls’ causes.
• JoAnn Hsueh was named Program and Communications VP at the Foundation for Child Development.
• Carmen Garcia is the new Early Childhood Program Officer at the Irving Harris Foundation.
• Mouna Ben Garga is the new Civil Society and Leadership Program Officer for Packard Foundation.
• The Joyce Foundation has two new staff members: Dr. Marisol Becerra, Environment Program Officer, and Jada Shavers, Education & Economic Mobility Program Assistant.

April

• Our old friend, Gabrielle (Gaby) Strong, former Otto Bremer Trust program officer and administrator at Lower Sioux Indian Agency is now NDN Collective Vice President in charge of grantmaking for the Collective.
• The San Antonio Area Foundation has named former Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation COO, Nadege Souvenir as its new CEO.
• Uma Mishra was selected as the Interim Executive Director of FRIDA, a funder to young feminist organizers. She had been the Managing Director of The Racial Equity Index, an interesting group watching the leadership and staff of the international development community.
• Dr. Jochen (Joe) Marschall, currently serving as interim Science program director, has been appointed as Science Program Director at the Heising-Simons Foundation.
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports: More than three dozen community foundations named new leaders in the past three years, as many baby boomers have retired:
  -St. Louis Community Foundation: Kelvin Adams, replacing Amelia Bond, who led the foundation for 12 years.
  -New York Community Trust: Amy Freitag, replacing Lorie Slutsky, who led the foundation for 32 years.
  _Grand Rapids Community Foundation: LaSandra Gaddy, replacing Diana Sieger, who led the foundation for 36 years.
  -Cleveland Foundation: Lillian Kuri, replacing Ronn Richards, who led the foundation for 20 years.
  -Baton Rouge Area Foundation: Chris Meyer, replacing John Davies, who led the foundation for 30 years.
  -Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta: Frank Fernandez, replacing Alicia Philipp, who led the foundation for 43 years.
  -Community Foundation of Northern Nevada: Eaton Dunkelberger, replacing Chris Askin, who led the foundation for 20 years.
  -Boston Foundation: Lee Pelton, replacing Paul Grogan, who led the foundation for 20 years.
  -Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Betsy Constantine, replacing Clotilde Perez-Bode Dodecker, who led the foundation for 18 years.
  -Lincoln Community Foundation: Alec Gorynski, replacing Barbara Bartle, who led the foundation for 11 years.
  -Foundation for the Carolinas: Catherine Bessant, replacing Michael Marsicano, who led the foundation for 23 years.
  -Marin Community Foundation: Rhea Suh, replacing Thomas Peters, who led the foundation for 23 years.
  -The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida: Isaiah Oliver, replacing Nina Waters, who led the foundation for 18 years.
  -Rhode Island Foundation: David Cicilline, replacing Neil Steinberg, who led the foundation for 15 years.
  -Seattle Foundation: Alesha Washington, replacing Tony Mestres, who led the foundation for seven years.

March

• Two New Minnesota Corporate CEOs with Strong Corporate Giving Programs:
  –3M’s CEO Mike Roman has stepped back. Taking his place is aerotech/defense CEO William Brown whose former company L3Harris Technologies has a few employees in Burnsville. The L3 Harris Foundation has awarded grants to two SW Metro Minneapolis groups focused on robotics and girls in STEM.
  –Kraus-Anderson/Engelsma Family Foundation – Another great MN business leader is retiring: Bruce Engelsma, CEO of family-owned Kraus-Anderson multi-company. Bruce has also led the great Engelsma Family Foundation which is supported, in part by KA.  Although technically based in South Dakota, the Engelsma Family Foundation awarded nearly $1.1 million in Minnesota during 2020-2022. Peter Diessner (KA’s current COO, Gustie alum and former 360 Communities board member) replaces Bruce as CEO.
• Open Society Foundations – Binaifer Nowrojee has been appointed the new president of the Open Society Foundations (OSF). Nowrojee has held a number of positions at OSF, currently serving as the vice president of Programs. Prior to coming to OSF, she served as legal counsel at Human Rights Watch. She succeeds Mark Malloch-Brown, who held the position for three years and led the organization through a sweeping reorganization. Inside Philanthropy has a bio on Ms. Nowrojee (behind a paywall).
• JPB Foundation – Barbara Picower transitioned to President Emerita at the JPB Foundation, in February  as Deepak Bhargava took over as President. Ford Foundation’s Darren Walker gave her a good send off.
• McKnight Foundation has welcomed Muneer Karcher-Ramos as Vibrant & Equitable Communities Program Director. He joins the foundation from the Office of Financial Empowerment at the City of Saint Paul, which he founded in 2019. He also served as staff and board member on several community groups including ARC MN, Headwaters Foundation, MnEEP, St Paul Promise Neighborhood, and Wilder Foundation. This is a critical program for McKnight and we believe Muneer is a great choice to replace Dave Nicholson.
• Headwaters Foundation for Justice’s new Director of Programs is Anitra Cottledge.  She comes with 20 years of experience in higher education, including 6 years as director of UM’s Women’s Center.
• Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies announced five new team members, including International Health Program Officer, Karen Fogg. Look in our Jobs section for more MACP program openings.
• Pohlad Family Foundation announced it promoted Susan Bass Roberts to president after she served eight years as the foundation’s vice president/executive director. Prior to that, Susan was at Best Buy Foundation, the Atlanta Falcons, and The Limited Foundation (out of business clothing chain). Susan also sits on the board of Minnesota’s Constellation Fund.
• Lots of Other Changes: If you have access to the April 19th edition of the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal, they have an interesting article on The Power Shift 25, which lists 25 new CEOs in Minnesota nonprofits and for-profit corporations.

February

• Big Addition to the Minnesota Philanthropy Scene: The Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies announced the appointment of Antonia Hernandez to its Program Committees. Antonia was President of the California Community Foundation, but before that, she was one of the founding mothers of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MLEDF), one of the early legal defense funds for women, BIPOC communities, LGBTQ+ constituents and other civil rights activists.
• Susan Bass Roberts was named president of the Pohlad Family Foundation. She’s been with the foundation since 2016, serving as both vice president and executive director. Bass Roberts is the first non-family member to serve in this role since the Foundation’s founding 30 years ago. The Pohlads have had great luck with finding involved and well-informed executives and program staff. Check out the staff page (with links)
• Houston-based Arnold Ventures named Molly Clayton Vice President of Contraceptive Access, a newly created position.
• Minnesota’s Bush Foundation named Adora Land. as the new Grantmaking Director for the Bush Fellowships.
• Ford Foundation announced the appointments of Anita Khashu and Chi-hui Yang as program directors. Anita will run the operations for Ford’s U.S. Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice Program, while Chi-hui will run the Foundation’s Creativity & Free Expression program (CFE).
• Ford has also named Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg Vice President of Programs.
• Minnesota-based GHR Foundation (a Rauenhorst family foundation) promoted Kevin Bennett to Program Director for their local Twin Cities work, leading the foundation’s work on racial equity with a specific focus on economic empowerment and education.
• GHR also promoted Yende Anderson to Senior Program Officer, responsible for shaping the forward direction of GHR’s work with the Catholic Church on safeguarding and care.
• Minnesota’s own Headwaters Foundation for Justice has a new Grants Manager, Robyn Browning, to oversee getting grants out the door.
• Silicon Valley-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation co-founder, Betty Irene Moore, passed away at age 95. While her husband and co-founder, Gordon (Intel founder) was the science/technology wiz, Betty was the partner with compassion and smarts about environmental and health issues. Gordon died in 2023.
• Troy Michigan’s Kresge Foundation has brought on three new program officers:
• Erica Browne is a Senior Program Officer with the Health Program, Alejandra Hernandez is an Associate Program Officer in their Environment Program, and Kevin Washington is the new Associate Program Officer with Kresge’s American Cities Program.
• San Francisco Bay Area-based Libra Foundation’s outstanding influencer, Executive Director Crystal Hayling, is stepping down this year. Libra is one of 18 Pritzker family (including Illinois Governor) foundations and nonprofits, such as the Pritzker Family Philanthropic Fund and the JPB Foundation. The family and its foundations are very progressive and very influential in the progressive funding community. Interested in being Crystal’s replacement? Look here.
• Northwest Minnesota Foundation named Dawn (Duval) Ganje as Senior Vice President of Philanthropy.
• Minnesota’s own Propel Nonprofits named Henry Jiménez President and CEO. Jiménez is currently the President and CEO of the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) and will assume the position in late February. Besides basic technical assistance, Propel is also very involved in social enterprise, fiscal sponsorships, and capacity-building grants. Click here for current funding opportunities.
• New York City’s Surdna Foundation‘s new Program Associate with the Sustainable Environments team is Kayla Hunter. Surdna (founder John Emory “Andrus” spelled backwards) has Minnesota contacts, but most of these folks have very little to do with the foundation’s operations.
• Minnesota’s own Tiwahe Foundation welcomes Liberty Greene (Red Lake, Upper Sioux Community, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation) as the new Learning and Operations Manager. Taƞyáƞ yahí. Biindigen. Welcome, Liberty.
• Wells Fargo Foundation named Darlene Goins Head of Philanthropy and Community Impact and President of Wells Fargo Foundation. Darlene used to be head of Consumer, Small & Business Banking, and before that, head of the Foundation’s Financial Health Philanthropy. She will also oversee (but not manage) the Foundation’s work in Minnesota.