Greenpeace USA Taps First Black Woman Executive Director

Greenpeace USA

Ebony Twilley Martin has been promoted to executive director. She is the environmental organization’s first Black woman leader.

She has worked there since 2013 and has served alongside Annie Leonard as co-executive director since 2021.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Donna McKay has been tapped as its new president and CEO. For the past 10 years, she has been executive director of Physicians for Human Rights.

McKay succeeds Myra Biblowit, who has retired after 22 years at the helm.

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

Nicole Sherard-Freeman will join the $1.4 billion community fund as chief operating officer on July 10.

She currently works for Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit as group executive of jobs, economy, and Detroit at Work, and executive director of the Mayor’s Workforce Development Board.

Facing History and Ourselves

Desmond Blackburn is now president and CEO of this group that works with teachers in grades 6 through 12 to use history lessons to help educators and students stand up to bigotry.

Most recently he was deputy chancellor of school leadership at the New York City Department of Education.

More New CEOs

Kimberly Hamilton has been appointed president of the Island Institute. Since September, she has served as its interim chief programs officer, and previously was president of FocusMaine. Hamilton succeeds Anthony Chatwin, who has departed after one year there.

Eleanor Savage has been promoted from program director to president and CEO of the Jerome Foundation, which makes grants to early-career artists and arts organizations. She succeeds Ben Cameron, who has led the $114 million grant maker since 2015 and will now retire.

Sara Vecchiotti, vice president at the Foundation for Child Development, will be the inaugural executive director of the Couch Family Foundation, which makes grants to support early-childhood care and education in New Hampshire. It was established in 2002 by Richard and Barbara Couch, who founded Hypertherm, a manufacturer of industrial cutting products and software.

Other Notable Appointments

Kathryn Brown, chief of communications at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been appointed chief communications and marketing officer at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Howard Byck has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation as senior vice president of partnerships and head of development. Previously he was senior vice president of corporate and sports alliances at the American Cancer Society.

Ashley Campbell is the new chief impact officer at the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes. Most recently, she worked at the University of Rochester as an assistant professor in health humanities and bioethics, and director of equity and inclusion research and research education.

Anna Combes, director of development at the Ochsner Cancer Institute, is now vice president of philanthropy at the CMT Research Foundation.

Annelise Conway, director of development and external relations at the Providence Children’s Museum, has been hired as director of development at the New England Aquarium.

Jan Knox has been promoted to vice president of college advancement at Guilford Technical Community College. Previously she was associate vice president of marketing, communications, and the GTCC Foundation.

Enrique Pinilla, a brand- and marketing-strategy consultant in Charlotte, N.C., is now chief operating officer at First Book.

Rebekah Shirley, chief of research at Power for All, has been named deputy regional director at World Resources Institute, Africa. She will oversee programs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo.

Deborah Vagins, president and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, has joined Equal Rights Advocates as its national campaign director.

Legacy

Leon Levine, the founder of the Family Dollar Stores discount retail chain who gave millions to charities working in health care, education, Jewish identity, and community development, died April 5. He was 85. Levine conducted most of his giving through his Leon Levine Foundation, which currently has more than $593 million in assets. The foundation has made several notable donations to the Carolinas HealthCare System over the years, including $10 million in 2007 to create the Levine Children’s Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center, $20 million in 2010 to establish the Leon Levine Cancer Institute, and another $25 million to expand cancer care there in 2016.

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