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Obama Foundation Names Its First Leader (Transitions)

August 9, 2019 | Read Time: 4 minutes

Adewale (Wally) Adeyemo has been named the first president of the Obama Foundation.

Jeremy Tripp/PIIE
Adewale (Wally) Adeyemo has been named the first president of the Obama Foundation.

Obama Foundation

Adewale (Wally) Adeyemo, former deputy national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council, has been named the organization’s first president. Adeyemo joined President Obama’s administration in 2015, and since 2017 he has served as a senior adviser at BlackRock and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Tanuja Dehne will become president and CEO of the $274 million grant maker on September 9. She is a lawyer and the former executive vice president of NRG Energy. Dehne succeeds Cynthia Evans, who will return to her role as chief financial officer after serving as interim president for the past year following Chris Daggett’s retirement.

Vic Fuentes (left), the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Pierce the Veil, has been appointed co-chairman and CEO of Living the Dream Foundation.

Living the Dream Foundation
Vic Fuentes (left), the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Pierce the Veil, has been appointed co-chairman and CEO of Living the Dream Foundation.

Living the Dream Foundation

Vic Fuentes, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Pierce the Veil, has been appointed co-chairman and CEO of this nonprofit organization, which offers unique opportunities to children and young adults with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Fuentes has volunteered with the charity since 2016 but says this will be his first job at a nonprofit group.

Memphis River Parks Partnership

Carol Coletta, a senior fellow in the Kresge Foundation’s American Cities Practice, will now serve as CEO and president of the riverfront group on a permanent basis. The foundation sent her to lead the Memphis group, one of its grantees, starting in March 2018.


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More New CEOs

Armando Colombo, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Sheppard Pratt Health System, in Baltimore, has been named president and CEO of the Menninger Clinic, in Houston.

Sam Marks, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s New York local office, has become CEO of FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds.

Rick Owen, president and CEO of the United Way Emerald Coast, has been named president of the United Way of Florida. He succeeds Ted Granger, who has served in the role since 1990.

Kesha Pate will now serve as executive director of Dance for Life and Chicago Dancers United. She previously ran her own consulting firm, Ahsek Media, which offered project-management services to for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Genesys Works

The social-enterprise organization has announced several new appointments.


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Michelle Demars, director of sales enablement at Year Up, is now senior vice president of sales and development, working in the national office.

Caitlin MacDonald has joined its national office as chief strategy and innovation officer, a new role. Previously she was senior director for innovation at Year Up.

Sahaar Rezaie, vice president of Yupro’s West Region, has become executive director of Genesys Works’ Bay Area office.

Other Notable Appointments

Vicki Clarke has joined the Global FoodBanking Network as its vice president for development. Most recently she was vice president of philanthropy and development at Heifer International.

Gary Klein, vice president for institutional advancement at Edgewood College, has been named vice president for university development and alumni engagement at Buena Vista University.


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Leila Makarechi, head of government partnerships at Coursera, an online education company, has been named vice president for partnerships at Philanthropy U.

Dale Meinecke, who served as assistant vice president for external affairs at Howard Payne University from 2012 to 2017, has returned to the university as vice president for development. Since 2017, he has been a professor of leadership and director of its master of arts in leadership program at Dallas Baptist University.

Janice Periquet has been hired as vice president for development of RepresentUs, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization. She arrives from the Nature Conservancy, where she was director of development for global priorities.

Kevin Reynolds, assistant vice president for advancement at Thomas More University, has been promoted to vice president for institutional advancement.

Ed Sudario, a regional manager at Lakeshore Learning, has been appointed vice president for external relations at Child360, a Los Angeles charity that supports early education.


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Laurie Tarpey, chief operating officer at the accounting firm Raffa, P.C., has been appointed chief financial officer at the Public Interest Registry, the nonprofit organization that manages the .org domain.

Legacies

Lillian Murphy, who served as president and CEO of Mercy Housing for 30 years, died on July 25. She was 78.

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About the Author

Senior Editor, Solutions

M.J. Prest is senior editor for solutions at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where she highlights how nonprofit leaders navigate and overcome major challenges. She has covered stories on big gifts, grant making, and executive moves for the Chronicle since 2004. Her work has also appeared in the Washington Post, Slate.com, and the Huffington Post, and she wrote the young-adult novel Immersion. M.J. graduated from Williams College and after living in many different places, she settled in New England with her husband, two kids, and two rescue dogs.