Antonia Hernández to Retire as CEO of the California Community Foundation

California Community Foundation

Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the $2.6 billion community fund since 2004, plans to retire later this year. Her successor has not yet been named.

Hernández has been a regular contributor to the Chronicle over the years. Read this interview with her last year after the California Community Foundation received two major gifts from the billionaire MacKenzie Scott.

Human Rights Watch

Tirana Hassan has been promoted from chief programs officer to executive director.

She has served as acting executive director since Kenneth Roth departed after 35 years at the watchdog group.

Open Society Foundations

Leigh Chapman has been appointed director of pro-democracy alliance and structural reform.

She served as acting secretary of state of Pennsylvania from January 2022 until January 2023.

United States-Japan Foundation

Jacob Schlesinger has been hired as president and CEO of the $100 million foundation.

A senior correspondent at the Wall Street Journal, he served as the newspaper’s Japan editor and Tokyo bureau chief while he lived there from 2010 until 2015.

More New CEOs

Tom De Vries, CEO and president of Global Leadership Network, will be the next president and CEO of the Citygate Network. He will succeed John Ashmen, who is departing after 16 years.

James Malloy, a vice admiral in the U.S. Navy who retired in October as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, has been tapped as president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. He succeeds John Enzler, a Catholic priest who has led the social-services agency since 2011 and is now retiring.

Jermaine Myrie, chief external affairs officer at uAspire, has been hired as CEO at Mentor. He will start his new role on April 24.

Dan Smith has been promoted from chief financial officer to president and CEO of Holt International Children’s Services. He has been its interim leader since Phil Littleton resigned in September.

Calstart

This nonprofit organization that aims to build a cleaner transportation industry has named four new executives.

Dirk Evenson, a consultant in communications in transportation, energy, and economic policy, has been named senior director of communications.

Stephanie Kodish has been appointed senior director of its Global Drive to Zero program. Most recently she was senior director and counsel for clean air and climate at the National Parks Conservation Association.

Ben Mandel has been promoted from senior director of the Northeast region to vice president for strategic initiatives.

Jason Zimbler, project manager at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is now light-duty vehicle director.

Woodward Hines Education Foundation

The $371 million foundation in Mississippi has named four new senior leaders.

Kierstan Dufour has been promoted from assistant director and project manager to director of external training and partnerships for the foundation’s Get2College program.

Minette Ketchings has been promoted to chief operating officer and controller. She has worked there since 1991.

Morgan Miller, director of communications in student services at Georgia Tech, is now director of communications, policy, and advocacy.

Shanell Watson has been promoted to chief of staff. She joined the foundation in 2007 and was most recently a program officer.

Other Notable Appointments

Bahati Aimee, co-creator of the digital app Community Food Navigator, and Andrea Ortez, national program manager and coach at Success Bound, have joined the Woods Fund of Chicago as program officers. In addition, Kelly Suzanne Saulsberry was promoted from a program officer to communications strategy and storytelling officer.

Erica Guyer, acting general counsel since May, has been named general counsel and corporate secretary at the Rockefeller Foundation. She has worked at the $7.5 billion foundation since 2011, most recently as deputy general counsel.

Redell Hearn has started as chief educator at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Most recently she was founding director of the Department of Academic Affairs at the Mississippi Museum of Art.

Letise LaFeir, a senior adviser at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will become chief conservation and stewardship officer at the New England Aquarium on May 1.

Ali Lyons has been promoted from content strategist to director of charity services at Advanced Remarketing Services.

Jade Packer, interim director of children’s media and education engagement at PBS North Carolina, has been appointed director of community initiatives at Duke University’s Nasher Museum. In addition, Diana Peña has joined the museum as director of education and public programs. Previously she was school-programs manager at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Departures

Alberto Ibargüen intends to retire as president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation once a successor has been named. He has led the $3 billion foundation since 2005.

Hillary Schafer is stepping down after 10 years as CEO of Multiplying Good.

Legacies

Gordon Moore, co-founder of the technology giant Intel and a prominent Bay Area philanthropist, died on March 24 at age 94. He and his wife endowed the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation with a pledge of Intel stock in 2000. Through the foundation, whose assets today top $9.5 billion, they directed most of their philanthropy toward causes in environmental conservation, patient care, science, and programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. The couple has also appeared on the Philanthropy 50 several times for their personal giving outside the foundation, most recently in 2017 in recognition of a $50 million pledge for a pediatric heart center at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Revisit this Chronicle interview with Moore in 2002 where he reflected on his family’s philanthropy.

Randall Robinson, a human-rights activist and lawyer who founded TransAfrica in 1977, died Friday at age 81. He served as the president of the foreign-policy advocacy group until 2001.

Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.