February 15, 2018 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Community-foundation leaders are often influential players in a region’s philanthropy, and they are paid accordingly. They don’t make the million-dollar salaries awarded to the CEOs of many hospitals, universities, and national nonprofits — no community-foundation leader appears to earn seven figures — but many get a good deal more than the leaders of their grantee organizations.
Here are the compensation figures of 40 top leaders of community foundations with at least $35 million in contributions for 2014 or 2015. Compensation includes base salary, bonus, benefits, and any deferred compensation if paid out in that year.
| Top Executive | Salary Year | Organization | Contributions to Organization | Total Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emmett Carson | 2015 | Silicon Valley Community Foundation | $1,030,271,539 | $865,715 |
| Paul Grogan | 2015 | Boston Foundation | $104,152,013 | $651,398 |
| Ronald Richard | 2014 | Cleveland Foundation | $43,324,109 | $581,116 |
| Michael Marsicano | 2015 | Foundation for the Carolinas | $347,666,005 | $543,841 |
| Phil Lakin Jr. | 2015 | Tulsa Community Foundation | $89,836,606 | $431,475 |
| Maxwell King | 2015 | Pittsburgh Foundation | $43,984,887 | $419,549 |
| Fred Blackwell | 2015 | San Francisco Foundation | $150,842,426 | $419,009 |
| Brent Christopher (former) | 2014 | Communities Foundation of Texas | $104,840,784 | $414,193 |
| Kelvin Taketa (former) | 2015 | Hawaii Community Foundation | $41,532,104 | $412,421 |
| Douglas Kridler | 2015 | Columbus Foundation | $125,156,815 | $384,972 |
| Max Williams | 2015 | Oregon Community Foundation | $68,470,235 | $375,024 |
| Stephen Maislin | 2014 | Greater Houston Community Foundation | $203,038,854 | $373,680 |
| Sandra Vargas (former) | 2015 | Minneapolis Foundation | $53,341,705 | $354,825 |
| Deborah Wilkerson | 2015 | Greater Kansas City Community Foundation | $263,140,571 | $344,093 |
| Alicia Philipp | 2014 | Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta | $76,894,630 | $338,629 |
| Marla Williams | 2015 | Community First Foundation | $44,579,186 | $330,124 |
| Carleen Rhodes (former) | 2014 | Saint Paul Foundation | $45,214,117 | $329,080 |
| William Ginsberg | 2015 | Community Foundation for Greater New Haven | $64,776,071 | $323,881 |
| Hans Dekker | 2015 | Community Foundation of New Jersey | $100,633,692 | $323,551 |
| Shelley Hoss | 2015 | Orange County Community Foundation | $76,560,690 | $318,752 |
| Javier Alberto Soto | 2015 | Miami Foundation | $58,430,912 | $318,640 |
| Darcy Oman (former) | 2015 | Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia | $88,721,684 | $314,493 |
| Chris Andersen | 2015 | InFaith Community Foundation | $37,535,935 | $286,567 |
| Ellen Lehman | 2015 | Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee | $40,799,162 | $286,409 |
| Bruce McNamer | 2015 | Community Foundation for the National Capital Region | $48,887,260 | $285,426 |
| Mary Jalonick | 2015 | Dallas Foundation | $70,719,260 | $285,259 |
| Meredith Jones (former) | 2015 | Maine Community Foundation | $41,033,986 | $267,855 |
| Richard Ober | 2015 | New Hampshire Charitable Foundation | $59,342,040 | $257,665 |
| Frederick Sears II (former) | 2014 | Delaware Community Foundation | $39,703,135 | $244,975 |
| Steve Leach (former) | 2015 | Christian Community Foundation | $46,316,149 | $244,496 |
| Dennis Noll | 2015 | San Antonio Area Foundation | $543,256,052 | $235,923 |
| Anne W. Scott (former) | 2015 | Charlottesville Area Community Foundation | $55,281,923 | $227,062 |
| Ellen Katz | 2015 | Greater Cincinnati Foundation | $99,925,738 | $200,278 |
| David Miller (former) | 2015 | Denver Foundation | $66,897,607 | $197,957 |
| Kristine Knous | 2015 | Greater Des Moines Community Foundation | $46,469,397 | $189,010 |
| James Pendergast (former) | 2014 | Austin Community Foundation for the Capital Area | $38,066,382 | $187,846 |
| Heather Larkin | 2015 | Arkansas Community Foundation | $52,575,296 | $172,939 |
| Christopher Nanni | 2015 | Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham | $75,836,055 | $156,734 |
| Tony Mestres | 2014 | Seattle Foundation | $70,157,379 | $155,714 |
| Patricia Melton | 2015 | Community Foundation for Greater New Haven | $64,776,071 | $142,324 |
Plus, last week Silicon Valley announced its assets had grown to $13.5 billion, making it the third largest philanthropy in the United States.
Chronicle subscribers: See our searchable database of charity CEO salary information going back to 2012. The database is updated regularly as the IRS makes information available.
