Longtime Bank of America Executive Will Become CEO of Foundation for the Carolinas

Foundation for the Carolinas

Cathy Bessant will become president and CEO of the $4.1 billion community foundation in January.

Currently she oversees global strategy at Bank of America, where she has worked for nearly 40 years. She was chair of the foundation’s board from 2009 until 2014.

Laura Smith will continue as interim CEO through the end of the year before returning to her role as chief operating officer. She has served as the foundation’s acting leader since Michael Marsicano left in January after 24 years at the helm.

Social Finance

Kirstin Hill, chief operating officer at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, has joined the impact-investment organization as president and chief operating officer.

She will work alongside Tracy Palandjian, its CEO and co-founder.

United States Regional Arts Organizations

Shannon Daut will be the group’s first national director. In this new role, she will work alongside the executive directors of Arts Midwest, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, South Arts, and the Western States Arts Federation.

Daut most recently led the cultural-affairs division for the City of Santa Monica, Calif.

More New CEOs

John Driscoll, senior vice president at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, will be the next president and CEO of Caron Treatment Centers, which provides behavioral-health care and treatment for addiction. His new role is effective in October.

Thomas Moore III, director of development at the National Academy of Design, has been named executive director of American Friends of the Louvre.

Den Quinsay, managing director at the Bronx Documentary Center, has been promoted to executive director. She succeeds its founder, Mike Kamber, who will now become creative director.

Amanda Sullivan, acting director of Community Teamwork, in Lowell, Mass., has been named executive director of the Roudenbush Community Center.

Other Notable Appointments

Elyse Barbell, vice president of human capital at Women in Need, has been appointed vice president of people and culture at the Urban Resource Institute.

Charles Feeney, vice president and chief financial officer at the University of Vermont Foundation, has joined the National Park Foundation as chief financial officer.

Robin Harris will become vice president for communications at the Wallace Foundation on October 23. Currently she is vice president of strategic communications at the Education Trust.

Kristin Love, vice president for development at Loyola Marymount University, has been named principal for the West Coast at the consulting firm Creative Fundraising Advisors.

Greg Luberecki, vice president for strategic communications at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, is now chief communications and learning officer at the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation.

Tarell Alvin McCraney, a playwright and screenwriter who won an Academy Award for the 2016 film Moonlight, has been hired as artistic director at the Geffen Playhouse.

Lisa Moore has been named chief advancement officer at the Animal Rescue Foundation. Previously she was chief development officer and vice president for advancement at Saint Mary’s College of California.

Hope O’Reilly, deputy director and chief development officer at the Brooklyn Museum, has been appointed senior vice president for university development and alumni relations at New York University.

Departures

Liz Martin-Malikian has resigned after two years as CEO and executive director of the Cosanti Foundation, in Arizona.

Josiah Spaulding Jr., president and CEO of the Boch Center, will step down on May 31, 2024. He has led the performing-arts group for 38 years and oversaw the renovations of its historic Wang Theatre and Shubert Theatre.

Martha Tedeschi, director of the Harvard Art Museums for the past seven years, plans to retire on June 30, 2024.

Kelly Zúñiga, CEO of Holocaust Museum Houston for 10 years, has departed to found a consulting firm for charitable leaders in Houston.

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