Changes at Richard King Mellon Family Funds and Planned Parenthood (Transitions)

Changes at Richard King Mellon Family Funds

Richard A. Mellon, former president of RAM Transit, a trucking and logistics company that he sold in 2012, will lead his family’s philanthropies, Richard King Mellon Foundation and the R.K. Mellon Family Foundation, as CEO.

A grandson of the grant makers’ founder, he succeeds his uncle, Seward Prosser Mellon, who is retiring from the $2.5 billion foundations after 40 years.

Planned Parenthood Appoints Interim Leader

Leana Wen, a physician who started as chief executive of Planned Parenthood Federation of America this past November, has stepped down.

News reports said the organization was split over how much to emphasize Planned Parenthood’s health-care services to women versus its work to provide legal abortion and faced significant turnover in its executive ranks after Wen joined.

Alexis McGill Johnson, co-founder of the Perception Institute and a former chair of Planned Parenthood’s Board of Directors, will serve as acting president and CEO until a successor is named.

New Leader at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

Marcus Walton, director of racial-equity efforts at Borealis Philanthropy, has been tapped as CEO, effective in September. He replaces Kathleen Enright, who is now chief executive of the Council on Foundations.

Hewlett Foundation Gets a New Vice President

Fay Twersky, founding director of the foundation’s effective-philanthropy group, has been promoted to vice president of the $9.8 billion foundation, managing special projects for its grant-making program. (The Hewlett Foundation is a financial supporter of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.)

Humane Society International Appoints a New Leader

Jeffrey Flocken, senior vice president for programs and policy, has been promoted to president.

He succeeds Kitty Block, who became acting president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States in February. She took the post in the wake of the departure of Wayne Pacelle, whom staff members accused of sexual harassment.

Miami Fund CEO Moves to Head Denver Foundation

Javier Alberto Soto, president and CEO of the Miami Foundation, will become president and CEO of the $900 million Colorado community fund in October.

He will succeed Christine Marquez-Hudson, who left after two years to become vice president for advancement at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.

J. Paul Getty Trust Promotes Insider to Lead Foundation

Joan Weinstein, acting director of the Getty Foundation, will take the job permanently. She has worked at the $12.6 billion foundation since 1994 and as deputy director since 2007.

Newman’s Own Foundation Chief Exits Amid Harassment Charge

Bob Forrester, chief executive of the $234 million Newman’s Own Foundation since 2008, has been dismissed following employee allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct, according to reports.

Jennifer Smith Turner, a member of its Board of Directors and a former CEO of Girl Scouts of Connecticut, will serve as interim president and CEO of the charity.

Newman’s Own was founded by the actor Paul Newman, who led the foundation until his death in 2008. In our June issue, we featured Newman’s Own efforts to persuade others to adopt its model.

Group for Young Professionals in Grant Making Has New Head

Storme Gray, director of programs at Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, has stepped up as interim executive director. She succeeds Tamir Novotny, who departed in May after four years.

Departures

Carmen Rojas, CEO and co-founder of the Workers Lab, will leave this fall after five years.

Kenyon Victor Adams, director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, has resigned after six months on the job.

Adam Meyerson will step down as president of Philanthropy Roundtable when a successor has been hired. He has led the organization since 2001.

Sonal Shah, founding executive director of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University, will take a leave of absence to become the national policy director for the presidential campaign of Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.

Caryl Stern, president and CEO of Unicef USA, will step down from the humanitarian-aid group at the expiration of her contract in June 2020 after 13 years at the helm.

Legacies

Kenneth Behring, a philanthropist, real-estate developer, and former owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team, died on July 25. He was 91. He gave $80 million in 2000 to the Smithsonian Institution, putting him at No. 8 that year on the Philanthropy 50, our annual ranking of donors who give the most.

Eva Kor, who survived deadly experiments on twins conducted on imprisoned Jewish children at Auschwitz and went on to establish the Candles Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, Ind., died on July 4. She was 85.

Ross Perot, a politician and billionaire who founded Electronic Data Systems and gave millions to the arts, education, and health care, died on July 9. He was 89. In 2008, he and his family appeared on the Philanthropy 50.

Sadie Roberts-Joseph, a community organizer in Louisiana who founded the Baton Rouge nonprofit groups Community Against Drugs and Violence and the Odell S. Williams Now & Then Museum of African American History, was murdered on July 12. She was 75.