Women Donors Network Appoints New Leader; Schultz Family Fund Names Strategy Chief

Women Donors Network

Leena Barakat will be its next president and CEO, effective in September. She will also lead WDN Action, the group’s 501(c)(4) arm.

Most recently, Barakat was director of strategic partnerships at Tides. She will be the network’s first Palestinian American leader.

Donna Hall, who has led the Women Donors Network and WDN Action for 20 years, will depart on December 31.

Schultz Family Foundation

David McGhee, the vice president of organizational excellence and impact at the Skillman Foundation, has joined the Seattle grant maker as its chief strategy and program officer.

The $424 million family foundation was launched back in 1996 by Howard Schultz, the founder and CEO of Starbucks, and his wife, Sheri.

GrantStation

Ellen Mowrer, chief operating officer and president, has been promoted to CEO. She succeeds Cynthia Adams, who is retiring after 22 years but will remain a corporate adviser to the group she co-founded.

In addition, Alice Ruhnke has been hired as president and content expert. She is the founder of the Grant Advantage.

More New CEOs

Jaime Arroyo, chief strategy officer at Community Action Partnership of Lancaster County, is returning to the economic-development charity Assets as CEO. He previously worked there as director of community lending from 2017 until 2020.

Jill Bennett has been promoted from director of programming and marketing to CEO of the Utah Nonprofits Association. She replaces Kate Rubalcava, who has led the group since 2016.

Trisha Finnegan has been named president and CEO of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. Most recently she worked at the Community Foundation of Louisville as chief strategy officer and senior vice president. Finnegan succeeds Nancy Anthony, who led the $565 million foundation for 37 years.

Chip Fulghum, acting chief operating officer at Endeavors since 2019, has been promoted to president and chief operating officer. This organization in San Antonio offers programs and services for children, families, veterans, and others who struggle with mental illness, disabilities, natural disasters, or emergencies.

Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend will become the next president of the Hamilton Family Charitable Trust on July 5. Most recently, she was president and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network. Fulmore-Townsend will succeed Nancy Brent Wingo, who plans to retire in July after 20 years at the $17 million family foundation.

Tyler Hobbs has been promoted from director of foundation operations to president of the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation, a $137 million grant maker in Wilsonville, Ore.

Other Notable Appointments

Miriam Bradley has been named assistant vice president for principal relationship development at James Madison University. Most recently she was director of development for university priorities and chief development officer for global affairs at the University of Virginia.

Rodger Jacobson has been appointed chief financial officer at the Charities Aid Foundation America. He has served in the role in an interim capacity since December, and prior to that he was a financial consultant to nonprofit private schools.

Departures

Lawrence Burns will step down as president and CEO of the Children’s Foundation at the end of the year to become a consultant. He has led the Detroit grant maker since 2016.

Darren Reisberg, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at the Joyce Foundation, is departing on August 1 to become president of Hartwick College.

Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, plans to retire in May 2023. He joined the foundation in 2008.

Tom Zelibor, who became CEO of the Space Foundation in 2017, intends to retire in the spring of 2023.

Legacy

Thomas Troyer, a longtime lawyer at the Washington firm Caplin & Drysdale who played a key role in defining U.S. tax law for charitable organizations, died on May 20. He was 88. Troyer worked at the U.S. Treasury Department in the mid-1960s where he helped draft the 1965 Report on Private Foundations. He also served as a board member for many foundations and nonprofit groups, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Children’s Defense Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Send an email to people@philanthropy.com.