Chicago Public-Health Commissioner Joins Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Transitions)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Julie Morita, a medical doctor and commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, has been named executive vice president and will oversee all programs, policy, research, and communications at the $11.4 billion foundation.

CARE

Tjada D’Oyen McKenna will now serve as the humanitarian-aid organization’s chief operating officer. Most recently she was chief operating officer at Habitat for Humanity International.

CARE raised $401 million in donations from private sources in 2017, landing it at No. 44 on our America’s Favorite Charities ranking.

JDRF

Aaron Kowalski, chief mission officer at this group that raises money for diabetes research, has been promoted to president and CEO. He is the organization’s first leader with Type 1 diabetes. Kowalski succeeds Derek Rapp, who announced last October he would step down after almost five years as CEO. JDRF was No. 99 in America’s Fa

JDRF was No. 99 in America’s Favorite Charities after raising $200 million in total revenue in 2017.

Southern Poverty Law Center

Karen Baynes-Dunning has stepped down from the legal organization’s Board of Directors to serve as its interim president and CEO, following the departure of several high-level leaders. She is president of Baynes-Dunning Consulting and a former juvenile-court judge.

More New CEOs

Christopher Clinton Conway, interim executive director at the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation, has been named CEO of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.

Beth Lewin Dean is now CEO of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy. Most recently she was vice president and general manager for central-nervous-system conditions at Aquestive Therapeutics.

Amanda Heier, CEO of the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, will now serve as CEO of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, which was previously known as the Breast Cancer Fund. She succeeds Jeanne Rizzo, who has retired after almost 20 years in the role.

Penny Swift, interim executive director of Education Through Music since January, has accepted the job permanently. She previously served as its chief operating officer since 2017.

Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, director of partnerships and evaluation at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has been promoted to CEO of this grant maker that supports entrepreneurs in Africa.

Global Communities

This charity that works to improve conditions for the world’s poorest people has hired two new executives.

Daniel Anthony has joined as vice president of communications and public affairs. Previously he was vice president of marketing, communications, and events at Atlas Network.

Sheila Crowley, vice president of volunteer and institutional engagement at Habitat for Humanity International, has been named chief of staff.

Other Notable Appointments

Nancy Griffith Baxter, director of gift planning at the Los Angeles Opera, will now serve as director of development at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Katherine Holbrook Biotti, senior managing director for the Northeast and Southeast sales regions at Foundation Source, has been promoted to national sales executive. This company provides support services to private foundations.

Michael Harrington, associate chief financial officer at the Cleveland Clinic, has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He succeeds Michael Gutnick, who is retiring after 42 years.

Kristen Purcell has been named chief research officer at Consumer Reports. She comes from Mathematica Policy Research where she was a senior health researcher who conducted program and policy evaluations of public and private organizations including the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Greg Ratliff, vice president for philanthropic partnerships and strategic communications at the ACT Center for Equity in Learning, has been hired as a vice president at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Euan Robertson, director of special projects for Columbia Technology Ventures at Columbia University, has been appointed chief operating officer of the Simons Foundation.

Maisha Simmons, a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has joined the NAACP as deputy chief director of development and senior director of foundation relations.

Departures

Susan Rosko Fogarty, executive director of the Palace Theatre, in Albany, will leave on June 28 after 18 months on the job.

Jim Sayer will step down as executive director of the Adventure Cycling Association by the end of 2019. He has served in the top role for 15 years.

Ginger Zielinskie, president and CEO of Benefits Data Trust for 13 years, plans to depart once a successor has been hired.

Legacies

Bill Grimm, senior directing attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, died on April 2 from a brain tumor. He was 69. Grimm worked at the legal-aid group for 30 years.

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