World Vision President to Retire After 20 Years; Alexandria Community Foundation Names New Leader

World Vision

Rich Stearns, president of the Christian humanitarian-aid charity since 1998, will retire this year. A national search is underway for his replacement.

The group has faced controversy in recent years over gay marriage and other issues. It ranks 23rd on the Philanthropy 400, The Chronicle’s annual ranking of charities that raise the most money from private sources.

ACT for Alexandria

Heather Peeler, vice president for member and partner engagement at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, has been named president and CEO of this community foundation in Alexandria, Va.

Feeding America

Diana Aviv has left the anti-hunger charity after two years at its helm. Before becoming CEO in late 2015, she spent 12 years leading Independent Sector. Keith Monda, chairman of the charity’s Board of Directors, will serve as interim executive chairman.

Read a recent profile of Ms. Aviv, along with The Chronicle’s coverage of her abrupt departure at Feeding America.

National Audubon Society

The conservation charity has hired new executive directors for three of its state affiliates. Each new executive director will also serve as a vice president of the National Audubon Society.

Jonathan Hayes, landscape-conservation cooperative science coordinator at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, will direct Audubon New Mexico.

Suzanne Langley, executive director of Birmingham Audubon Society, in Alabama, has taken the helm at Audubon Texas.

Sarah Rose, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters and its Education Fund, will now lead Audubon California.

More New CEOs

Melanie Conner has become CEO of Rainbow Village, which serves homeless families with children in Atlanta. She previously worked for the State of Georgia as the housing coordinator for the Governor’s Office of Transition, Support and Reentry.

Mark Israel, a pediatric oncologist who was the director of Dartmouth University’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center until 2016, has been named national executive director of the Israel Cancer Research Fund.

Lisa Jackson, co-founder and managing director of the College for Social Innovation, has been hired as managing partner of the Imago Dei Fund.

Stephanie Linder, director of development and communications at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, has been named executive director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society. She will start on February 26.

Valerie Reynoso Piotrowski, director of foundations and corporate relations at the Salvation Army Del Oro Division, has been named executive director of the Dominguez Dream, an education nonprofit that brings science, technology, engineering, arts, and math programs to underserved schools.

Stephen Testa Jr., senior vice president and executive director of Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation since 2014, has been promoted to president.

Sharon Thornton has become president of the Memorial Medical Center Foundation, the fundraising arm for Long Beach Medical Center and Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach. Previously she was executive vice president and chief philanthropy officer for the Sun Health Foundation, in Surprise, Ariz.

Other Notable Appointments

Kim Coble, vice president for environmental protection and restoration at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, has been hired as chief operating officer at US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.

Theresa Curry, assistant vice president for gift planning and administration at the University of New Hampshire Foundation, has been appointed executive director of planned giving at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Julie D’Andrea, executive director of campaign advancement at Barnard College, has joined Maine College of Art as vice president for development.

Elaine Gibbons, executive director of global corporate engagement at PATH, has been promoted to vice president for global engagement and communications.

Geetanjali Gupta has joined the New York Public Library as chief investment officer. She was previously senior vice president for absolute return and public market funds at the Harvard Management Company.

Raul Moas has been named Miami program director at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, effective March 1. He is currently the managing director of AGP Miami, an angel-investor network for tech startups in South Florida.

Keith Richardson, assistant vice president for leadership programs at Monmouth University, has joined Delaware Valley University as its vice president for development and alumni affairs.

Kristen Richardson-Frick, a program officer at the Duke Endowment and an ordained pastor in the Methodist Church, has been named associate director of the Rural Church program area at the Duke Endowment.

Julianne Sobral, senior vice president for operations and talent development at the Council on Foundations, has been promoted to chief operating officer.

Darcy Turner, a project director for the Office of the Chief Information Officer at the University of Michigan, has been appointed executive director of advancement services at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Departures

Bob Rohde, president of the Dumb Friends League, will retire next month. He was named executive director of this animal-welfare group in 1977 and later became president and CEO.

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