Booz Allen Hamilton Names Foundation Leader; Nation Appoints Head of New Effort to Train Journalists

Booz Allen Foundation

Christine Hoisington has been promoted to executive director.

She has worked at the consulting firm for nearly 13 years, most recently as head of its Community Impact and Philanthropy team. She helped establish its corporate foundation in 2017.

The Nation Fund for Independent Journalism

Erin O’Mara, president of the political magazine The Nation, will also serve as the first executive director of this new charity, which will support diversity in newsrooms and training for early-career journalists.

Sarah Burke has been tapped as development director. She is associate publisher of fundraising at The Nation.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Rick Parnell, president and CEO of the Foundation for Climate Restoration, has been hired as its new executive director.

More New CEOs

Jorge Cruz, chief external affairs officer at New Jersey Community Capital, has been named executive director of LISC Greater Newark, an affiliate of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Peggy Panosh has been hired as CEO of Healthy Minds Innovations, a nonprofit group affiliated with the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Most recently she was head of marketing and development for the WW Presents Oprah’s 2020 Vision Your Life in Focus arena tour and Oprah’s A Vision Forward live online broadcast.

John Shackelford, who most recently led Chick-fil-A’s Brand Planning team, will become executive director of Eagle Ranch in July. The Christian charity operates a residential program for children and families in crisis in Georgia.

Other Notable Appointments

Jim Bergstrom and Abe Weldy, who are both senior directors of investments at the Indiana University Foundation, have been promoted to co-chief investment officers.

Kemba Esmond, senior lead in financial planning and analysis at Fannie Mae, has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer at NeighborWorks America. She succeeds Rebecca Bond, who is retiring after seven years in the role.

Jenny Kim, in-house lawyer at Koch Industries, has been named vice president of operations and general counsel at the Philanthropy Roundtable.

Debbie Kobak, manager of Fifth Third Bank’s On the Block charitable program, has been appointed managing director at Arabella Advisors, a consulting firm that works with philanthropists, impact investors, and other social entrepreneurs. She will be based in Chicago.

Juan Fernando Lopera has been appointed chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Beth Israel Lahey Health, a new role at the nonprofit hospital system. Most recently he was vice president and corporate business diversity officer at the combined Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

Patti Lukas, senior vice president and head of human resources at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, has been appointed vice president and chief people officer at Fountain House, a national nonprofit group for people living with serious mental illness. Joshua Seidman is also joining Fountain House as its first vice president and chief research and knowledge officer. Most recently he was managing director at the Avalere Health Center for Healthcare Transformation.

Beth Nathanson has been named chief philanthropy officer at First Look Media, a nonprofit media group created by Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of eBay. Most recently she was vice president of strategic partnerships at the Anti-Defamation League.

Stephen Plank has been named vice president of research, evaluation, evidence, and data at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. He comes to the $2.9 billion grant maker from the American Institutes for Research, where he was a managing researcher.

Katy Scholfield has joined the Arcus Foundation in the newly created role of director of strategic grant making for its Great Apes and Gibbons program. Most recently she was head of biocultural diversity and co-head of programs at Synchronicity Earth.

Autumn Lewis Spicher, associate director of placement and operations for the Arkansas Academy for Educational Equity, has been appointed director of development for the Honors College at the University of Arkansas.

Elizabeth Boluch Wood will join Swarthmore College as vice president for advancement on June 7. Most recently she was chief development officer and associate director for communications and strategic partnerships at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Gina Amato Yazzolino, a development manager at the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oregon, has been named director of alumni and parent relations at the University of Portland.

Departures

Roslyn Dawson Thompson, president and CEO of the Texas Women’s Foundation for the past 10 years, plans to retire at the end of 2021.

Danielle Gee, chief of staff at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, is stepping away for 18 months to accept a fellowship at the CEO Action for Racial Equity.

Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools since 2017, will depart on June 30. She will become a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Martin Miller is stepping down as president of New England Public Media, pending the selection of a successor. He was named to the top post in 2019 after the group was created through a merger between New England Public Radio, which he led for more than 20 years, and the public television station WGBY.

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