Girl Scouts of the USA Names New Chief Development and Operating Officers

Girl Scouts of the USA

Shelley Goode, chief development officer at the KIPP Foundation, has joined the scouting organization as chief development officer.

In addition, Brandt Haynes has been hired as chief operating officer and head of transformation. He was most recently head of consumer revenue at Pushkin Industries.

Read more about the $84.5 million gift the Girl Scouts received last week from MacKenzie Scott to help rebuild its postpandemic membership.

Weingart Foundation

Brian Williams has been tapped as the $939 million foundation’s first chief operating officer.

Previously he was executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Los Angeles Urban League.

Wildlife Conservation Society

Robb Menzi, executive vice president and chief operating officer, has stepped up as interim president and CEO.

He follows Cristián Samper, who has left to become managing director and leader of nature solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund.

More New CEOs

Helen Altshul, performance and partnerships manager at the International Livestock Research Institute, has been appointed CEO of RefuSHE. She follows Doris Nelima, who has led the refugee group on an interim basis since its previous CEO, Geoffrey Thige, died unexpectedly in August 2021. Nelima will now return to her role as chief financial officer.

Allison Fine is now president of Every.org. The former founder and executive director of Innovation Network, she has written four books about using digital technology to connect charitable organizations and supporters. (Fine is a regular contributor to the Chronicle; see a collection of her articles.)

Marjorie Newman-Williams, president of MSI United States, will become president of Search for Common Ground in January. She succeeds Isam Ghanim, who will join the humanitarian organization’s Board of Directors this winter.

Caroline Pearson, senior vice president for health care strategy at NORC at the University of Chicago, has been named executive director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare.

Sonal Shah will become the Texas Tribune’s CEO on January 1. She most recently led the Asian American Foundation from May until December 2021.

Robert Williams was appointed executive director of the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation. Most recently he was deputy director of international affairs at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Other Notable Appointments

Jon Amar, a strategic-communications consultant in Denver, has been named director of public relations and communications at Matter Unlimited.

Kate Carney, a social-media consultant, has joined More in Common U.S. as chief of staff. She also founded Write to Be, a charity that provided mentorship and skills training to women and girls in Haiti.

Kevin Deary, who plans to retire as president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County in December, will become director of professional and organizational development at the Community Foundation of Elkhart County in the spring.

Lee Emmons has been named the new director of philanthropy for the University of Kentucky’s Western Kentucky region. Most recently she was vice president of institutional advancement at West Kentucky Community and Technical College and executive director of its foundation.

Patrice Green has been promoted to director of the Surdna Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Program. She has led the program on an interim basis since August, when Mekaelia Davis left to join the Ballmer Group.

Marilee Holmes has been hired as the first chief diversity officer at Save the Children US. She has worked there since June 2021 as lead adviser for diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

Donna Kalajian Lagani, senior program officer at the Hearst Foundations, has been promoted to vice president and Eastern director of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation of California and the Hearst Foundation of New York. She succeeds George Irish, who died on September 13.

Julie Kent, artistic director at the Washington Ballet, will become co-artistic director at the Houston Ballet in July 2023. She will serve alongside Stanton Welch.

Emily Lundgard, senior program director at Enterprise Community Partners, has been appointed director of strategy at the George Gund Foundation.

Bridget Murphy, chief philanthropy officer at the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, has returned to Graham-Pelton as chief growth officer. She previously worked at the fundraising consulting firm as senior vice president and group leader of its health care practice from 2005 to 2010.

Makini Nyanteh has been promoted from vice president for communications and public affairs to senior vice president and chief communications officer at the American Institutes for Research.

Laren Spirer, founder of InSpirer Consulting, has joined the Lawyers Alliance for New York as program and strategy director.

Departures

Afton Battle, general and artistic director of the Fort Worth Opera since 2020, has resigned. Her last day will be November 23.

Harriet Karr-McDonald, who has served as president of the Doe Fund since January 2021, will step down on November 1. She has led the $315 million foundation since the death of George McDonald, who was its founder and her husband.

Jonelle Procope, president and CEO of the Apollo Theater, will depart on June 30, 2023. She has led the historic Black cultural organization since 2003.

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