People in Philanthropy 11/23

Joyce Foundation President and CEO Ellen Alberding is stepping down. Ellen’s been at Joyce for 21 years and has transformed the foundation into a national and Midwest powerhouse, funding some of best gun violence and voter rights work in the Great Lakes Area. For a while Joyce was boycotting Minnesota during a GOP gubernatorial regime. But for the last 10-12 years, they’ve funded both infrastructure and advocacy groups in Minnesota, including several Access Philanthropy clients such as MnEEP and MinnPost.You may have known him from his Headwaters Foundation days, but for the last three years, David Nicholson has been Program Director for the Vibrant & Equitable at McKnight Foundation. With the new MF boss, Tonya Allen, David has led the foundation to some critical and accessible changes.Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors named Latanya Mapp Frett as new President and CEO, to begin her post in January 2024.  She succeeds outgoing CEO Melissa Berman, who has led RPA since its inception 20 years ago. Mapp Frett comes from serving as president of the Global Fund for Women for four years.Target's Chief External Engagement Officer Laysha Ward has stepped down as leader of the company’s Foundation after 20 years. She is currently serving as a strategic advisor with plans to retire in April 2024. Kiera Fernandez has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Community Impact and Equity Officer. She will have oversight of Target’s corporate philanthropy efforts.Shannon Smith Jones is the new Senior Vice President of Community Impact at Greater Twin Cities United Way.  She oversees holistic grantmaking, community partnerships, coalition building, and systems change work.Erica Kirsch is the new Lloyd K Johnson Foundation Program Officer . She was a special education teacher in Grand Marais for the past three years.The Minneapolis Foundation has adopted a new co-leadership model, naming Jo-Anne Stately and Patrice Relerford to the roles. Stately is the Senior Vice President of Impact, and Relerford will serve as Vice President of Collective Impact and Giving (a newly created role)Christie Herrera will be the next President and CEO of Philanthropy Roundtable. Herrera has served as its interim leader since Elise Westhoff departed at the end of May.Charles Schwab President Rick Wurster will take on the role of the Foundation President, effective July 1, succeeding Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, who served as President for nine years.Sierra Judy has been promoted from Headwaters Foundation’s  Giving Project Program Associate to Program Officer. She has written an update on their initiative to engage cross-class, multi-racial, multi-generational cohorts in coming together to move money to BIPOC-led organizations that focus on systems change.Ribkah Amaha Naga is the new Racial Equity to Accelerate Change Fund Program at Borealis PhilanthropyAlfonso Wenker has joined the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation as chief strategist for grantmaking and community impact.The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has named Maribel Perez Wadsworth to be its next President, making the Cuban-American news veteran the foundation’s first woman leader.