Merck Fund Names New Chief; Aspen Music Festival Hires Top Fundraiser

John Merck Fund

Christine James, the grant maker’s director of programs, will become its executive director when Ruth Hennig steps down from the post on September 29. Ms. Hennig was the Merck Fund’s first executive director and started as its first employee 29 years ago.

The fund supports work on developmental disabilities, clean energy, health and the environment, and regional food systems. It is spending down its assets, aiming to close in 2022. In 2015, the most recent year for which information is available, it had more than $56 million in assets.

Aspen Music Festival and School

Steve Haddad, principal of the fundraising and leadership-consulting firm Sangha Solutions, has been named vice president for advancement. The Aspen organization runs an eight-week summer festival and education program focused on classical music, presenting more than 300 events per season.

Mr. Haddad will help run the school’s current $75 million capital campaign.

James Beard Foundation

Susan Ungaro announced plans to step down after 11 years as president of the nonprofit devoted to the culinary arts. She will depart at the end of 2017.

North Texas Food Bank

Trisha Cunningham, former chief citizenship officer at Texas Instruments, has been named president and CEO. She starts July 17.

Peterson Center on Healthcare

Jay Want, chief medical officer of CIVHC, the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, was promoted to executive director, effective August 7.

James Graham Brown Foundation

Mason Rummel, the grant maker’s president since 2010, will add the role of chief executive officer.

Other notable appointments:

Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo has been named program officer for the Beloved Community Fund at the Akonadi Foundation. She was previously executive director of Studio Grand, a multidisciplinary arts organization in Oakland, Calif.

Elizabeth Goettl, former chief academic officer of the LEARN Charter School Network in Chicago, has been appointed president and CEO of the Cristo Rey Network of Catholic high schools, succeeding Jane Genster.

Meghan Jambor, communications manager of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, will become interim informed-communities program officer and communications director. She will assume the duties of Molly De Aguiar, who recently was named managing director of the News Integrity Initiative at the Tow-Knight Center at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Giselle Leung, a seven-year veteran of the Global Impact Investing Network, has been promoted from director to managing director.

Erin Murphy Rafferty, who served as chief operating officer of Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, was named chief executive officer of the Wonderfund, a new charity that provides additional services for children supported by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

Myesha Wilson, former executive director at St. Jude’s Ranch, is the new executive director at Olive Crest Nevada, which serves vulnerable children and families.

Departures

Sue Ann Schiff, executive director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society for the past six years, has announced plans to step down by early 2018.

Daniel Schmidt will retire at the end of this year as chief executive officer and president of Window to the World Communications, parent organization of Chicago public broadcasters WTTW and WFMT. He is a 26-year veteran of the organization and has held the top job since 1998.

Beth Tuttle will step down in October as president and CEO of research and advocacy nonprofit DataArts, which maintains a national database of cultural organizations’ finances and programs. She has held the post since March 2013.

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