Wells Fargo Foundation Taps First Black Woman President

Wells Fargo Foundation

Darlene Goins has been promoted to head of philanthropy and community impact at Wells Fargo & Company, and will also serve as president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. She is the first Black woman to lead the bank’s corporate-giving entity.

Goins was previously head of diverse customer segments within Wells Fargo’s Consumer, Small, and Business Banking division.

Common Cause

Virginia Kase Solomón will be its next president and CEO. When she begins in February, she will be the first Hispanic person to lead the democracy-watchdog group. Currently she is CEO of the League of Women Voters.

Solomón follows Karen Hobert Flynn, who died in March after more than 30 years at the organization.

Noguchi Museum

Amy Hau, managing partner of the architecture and urban-design firm WXY, is returning to the Noguchi Museum as its director.

Hau began her career in 1986 as an assistant to the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, who created the museum in New York to house his work. She later served as its director of administration and external affairs.

Tiny News Collective

Amy Kovac-Ashley will be the first executive director of this nonprofit group that helps entrepreneurs establish local newsrooms to serve marginalized communities.

Most recently she was head of national programs at the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.

More New CEOs

Liberty Aldrich has been chosen as executive director of the Children’s Law Center. She has served as a family court judge in the Bronx since 2021.

Hilary Braseth will become executive director of OpenSecrets on January 16. She was most recently a public-service fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Atiba Edwards has been promoted from chief operating officer and executive vice president to president and CEO of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. He has served as its acting leader since the departure of Stephanie Hill Wilchfort in August.

John Harper has been promoted to CEO of FSG, the nonprofit consulting firm. Most recently he was a managing director in FSG’s U.S. consulting division. He will assume the helm on January 2.

Nicholas Jackson, senior director of editorial at Built In and principal of Fifth Gate Media, will be the next editor-in-chief and publisher of the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Susan Miller Kotses has been hired as executive director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, beginning February 8. Currently she is vice president of education and community engagement at the Pacific Symphony.

Lucria Ortiz, president and CEO of the Yonkers Family YMCA, will be the next president and CEO of the Opportunity Network. When she starts on January 2, she will succeed AiLun Ku, who has worked there since 2011 and has served as its CEO since 2019.

Carla Smith has been named CEO of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, effective February 12. Currently she is the deputy CEO at the Urban Resource Institute. She will be the first person of color to lead the group in New York when she succeeds Glennda Testone, who has served as its executive director for 14 years.

Jeff Vockrodt, a patent lawyer at the law firm Culhane Meadows, will now serve as president and CEO of the Fair Labor Association. He follows Sharon Waxman, who has led the group since 2016.

Episcopal Health Foundation

Zahyrah Blakeney has been promoted from senior program officer to vice president for community engagement at the $1.6 billion foundation in Houston.

In addition, Michael Walsh will start in January as its vice president for grants. Most recently he was executive director of the cancer-prevention and control platform at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Other Notable Appointments

Brianna Barrett, senior director of philanthropy at the Scripps Research Institute, has joined the Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation as chief development officer.

Ivory Clarke has been hired as vice president of strategic relationships at the Missouri Foundation for Health, a new role at the $1.4 billion foundation. Most recently she worked at the National Academy of Medicine as director of its culture of health program.

Jennifer Harris will return to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in January as director of its Economy and Society Initiative, which awards $20 million in grants each year. She previously held the same role until 2021 when she left to become special assistant to President Joe Biden and senior director of international economics on the National Security Council and National Economic Council. (The Hewlett Foundation is a financial supporter of the Chronicle.)

Brandy Johnson, vice president for human resources at Compass Minerals, will become chief people officer at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in January.

Diane Kaplan, the longtime CEO of the Rasmuson Foundation who stepped down in 2022 after 27 years at the helm, has been named a senior fellow at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Ellen Kazama, director of major gifts and donor relations at Aloha United Way, has been appointed director of the Office of Estate and Gift Planning at the University of Hawai‘i Foundation. In addition, Jennifer Lieu has been tapped as director of development for the university’s Shidler College of Business. She was most recently managing director of programs and operations at Blue Planet Foundation.

Anna James Miller has joined the Sierra Meadows Foundation as fund-development director. Most recently she was director of grant-funding support and foundations relations at Fresno Pacific University.

Esther Pitts, executive director of Providence Alaska Children’s Hospital and Women’s Services Administration, is joining the Mat-Su Health Foundation as chief community-impact officer. In addition, Robin Minard is retiring in January after 11 years as chief communications officer at the $330 million foundation in Alaska.

Rebecca Gregory Segovia has been named head of marketing at Classy, an affiliate of GoFundMe that helps nonprofit groups connect with donors. Most recently she was executive vice president and general manager for Giving DNA at Pursuant.

Tina Walker is now chief people officer and executive vice president at the Low Income Investment Fund. She previously served as vice president of human resources and administration at the California Community Foundation.

Departure

Crystal Hayling will retire in the spring after six years as executive director of the Libra Foundation. Read more about her career in the Chronicle.

Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.