Local Initiatives Support Corporation Appoints New Head of Rural Programs

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Nadia Villagrán has been promoted to vice president of Rural LISC, and will lead this national program that makes grants and loans to improve the well-being of rural communities. She has been its interim director since January.

Villagrán has worked at Rural LISC since 2017 and was most recently its program director for fund development and strategic partnerships.

Children’s Defense Fund

Kathleen Flynn has become chief operating officer of the children’s advocacy group. Most recently she was chief operating officer at the National Fair Housing Alliance.

In addition, Sheri Brady has been promoted from vice president for strategy and program to vice president and chief program officer.

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation

Danielle Fragalla has been named its CEO. Until last summer, she was executive director of the foundation campaign at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Foundation.

The foundation has also promoted its executive director Jeri Wilson to vice president of development and principal gifts.

Pride Live

Efrain Guerrero, senior managing director of operations at KIPP NYC, has been appointed executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group.

He will work alongside Diana Rodriguez, founder of Pride Live and the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, who will remain CEO.

More New CEOs

Jade Brooks, political director, and Carlin Rushing, regional membership lead, have been promoted to serve as co-directors of Southerners on New Ground. This social-justice organization unites people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, low-income, and rural communities in the South.

Nathanial Matthews, CEO of the Global Resilience Partnership, has been named CEO of PlanetaryX, an organization that aims to enhance biodiversity conservation through technology and collaborations among the private sector, policy makers, and local communities.

Danyson Tavares is now executive director of YouthBuild Boston, an organization that develops pathways to careers in construction for young people of color in Boston. He has worked there since 2021 as project development manager.

Lanthy Truong, vice president of finance and administration at Matriculate, will be the first CEO of the Lower Eastside Girls Club.

Other Notable Appointments

Christina Adcox, director of advancement and philanthropic partnerships at the Noble Research Institute, has joined the Oklahoma City Community Foundation as chief operating officer.

Chantal Bernard, associate vice president of advancement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, is now managing director of philanthropy at the Asia Society.

Ron Guerrier has been hired as new chief technology officer at Save the Children U.S. Until last year, he was global chief information officer for HP.

David Socolow, executive director of the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, has joined Social Finance as head of policy for the Social Finance Institute.

Jon Walsh, chief financial officer at Symplicity Corporation, has become senior vice president for finance and administration at the BrightFocus Foundation, which raises money for research on Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.

Departure

Paul Salem is stepping down after six years as president and CEO of the Middle East Institute. He plans to relocate to the Middle East and will remain with the think tank in a new international role.

Legacies

Stephen Adams, a billionaire private-equity investor who quietly gave millions to Yale University, died on March 14 at age 86. An amateur pianist, he donated $10 million to his alma mater in 1999 to support the Yale School of Music. Adams then gave an additional $100 million anonymously in 2005 to cover the full cost of tuition for all students at the music school.

Daniel Jordan, who earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia and went on to become the longtime leader of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, died on March 21 at the age of 85. He was director and then president of the organization that operates the Monticello historical site from 1985 until his retirement in 2008.

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