Mercy Corps Hires New Top Fundraiser; Gerry Lenfest Dies at 88

H. F. (Gerry) Lenfest, a billionaire philanthropist who made his fortune in cable television, died August 5 at age 88. He and his wife, Marguerite, gave away an estimated $1.3 billion, focusing primarily on education, journalism, and cultural institutions in the Philadelphia area.

They were among America’s most generous donors. The couple made the Philanthropy 50 list nine times since 2000, when Lenfest Communications was sold to Comcast.

Among their most generous gifts were $60 million for the Lenfest Institute for Journalism; $40 million to the American Revolution Center for its main facility; $30 million to Columbia University for a new arts complex; and tens of millions to endow the Lenfest Scholarship Foundation, which gives tuition grants to students from rural areas of Pennsylvania.

Berkshire Museum

Van Shields, executive director of the museum since 2011, has retired. David Ellis, who has also served as interim president of the Boston Children’s Museum and interim executive director of the Harvard Museum of Natural History, will temporarily lead the museum during its executive search.

The Berkshire Museum has generated controversy recently by offering to sell dozens of pieces of artwork from its collection to shore up its endowment and pay for repairs to its facilities.

Mercy Corps

Adrienne Karecki, regional director for West, Central, and North Africa at the humanitarian-aid group, has been promoted to chief development and marketing officer. Mercy Corps ranked No. 212 on the Philanthropy 400 in 2017, tallying a total of $349 million in income.

More New CEOs

Peg Birk, founder and CEO of Interim Solutions, has been named interim president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations. She succeeds Trista Harris, who is stepping down to promote her forthcoming book Future Good: How to Use Futurism to Save the World.

Amy Dupuis has become executive director of the Columbia Bank Foundation. Previously she held simultaneous roles as senior manager for North America corporate social responsibility at the bank Sanofi U.S., and as vice president of the Sanofi Cares Foundation North America.

Tracy Madden-McMahon, director of development at Methodist Health System, has been promoted to president and CEO of the Methodist Hospital Foundation in Omaha.

Tiffany Page, director of community outreach for Catholic Charities West Michigan, has become executive director of the American Red Cross of West Michigan.

Other Notable Appointments

Anita Gray, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Cleveland, will now become its director of development.

Christine Jones, former CEO of Great Hearts Academies, has been appointed chief operating officer at the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Michael Mirto has joined the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan as vice president of philanthropic services. Previously he was associate vice president of individual giving at Wayne State University.

Albulena Prelvukaj, a director at the Sadanah Foundation, has joined the MedShadow Foundation as its marketing and development manager.

Betsy Rigby, chief development officer at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, has been named chief development officer at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. States Senate.

Anita Roberson, program manager for the Midwest region at A Better Chance, has been promoted to senior program manager of its Middle States regional office, overseeing the education charity’s newly consolidated operations in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic. She succeeds Keith Wilkerson, who has stepped down after 17 years.

Drew Soicher, a former television sports commentator in Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, has been hired as staff program director at Miracle League of Arizona, a sports charity that teaches disabled people to play baseball.

Michael Tompos, vice president for philanthropy at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Foundation, has become vice president for institutional advancement at Hamline University.

Departures

Anne Colwell, CEO of Cape Cod Child Development since 2015, has left the agency. Nancy Sorbo, director of its family child-care and pre-school enrollment programs, will serve as interim agency director.

Legacies

John Gardner, vice president for development at Washington State University and chief executive officer of the WSU Foundation until his retirement last year, died of bile-duct cancer on July 29. He was 60.

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