New on the Job: Kerry Sullivan, President, Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Background: Ms. Sullivan was previously senior vice president and national philanthropy executive at the foundation. Before that, she led Bank of America’s service helping wealthy people create philanthropic funds.

Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross, and a master’s degree in business administration from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.

Why she was hired: “Kerry has done an outstanding job designing strategies that are responsive to critical needs in the community in this extraordinary environment,” writes Andrew D. Plepler, her predecessor, who now oversees social-responsibility programs for the bank, in an e-mail message to The Chronicle.

Her agenda: To encourage the bank’s employees to volunteer, to provide unrestricted operating support to nonprofit organizations, and “to make sure we’re relevant and supporting our communities in the needs that they have,” she says.

Salary: She declined to reveal her pay.

What she’s reading: Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens, and Time to Learn: How a New School Schedule is Making Smarter Kids, Happier Parents, and Safer Neighborhoods, by Christopher Gabrieli and Warren Goldstein.