Posted on April 24, 2011

People in the News (4/24/11): Appointments and Promotions

The Philadelphia-based William Penn Foundation has announced the appointment of JEREMY NOWAK as president. Currently president and CEO of the Reinvestment Fund, a significant partner in guiding the foundation's community development efforts, Nowak will succeed FEATHER HOUSTOUN, who has led the foundation since 2005.

The Will County Community Foundation, a Joliet-based affiliate of the Chicago Community Trust, has announced MICHAEL TRENCH as its new executive director. Trench, most recently chief development officer at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, previously served as director of planned giving at National-Louis University and earlier worked in financial service sales and as a parish pastor.

The Oakland-based California HealthCare Foundation has announced the election of ELIZABETH G. HILL, retired leader of the California state legislature's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, to its board.

The Hitachi Foundation in Washington, D.C., has announced the election of MELISSA BRADLEY to its board. Bradley, CEO of the Tides Foundation, was founder of New Capitalist, an organization that works to leverage human, financial, and social capital to create sustainable and profitable individuals, businesses, and communities, and of the Reentry Strategies Institute and the Entrepreneurial Development Institute. She currently serves on the boards of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, Georgetown University, the Victory Fund, and Grist.

The New York City-based Mertz Gilmore Foundation has announced the election of MIKKI SHEPARD, executive producer of the Apollo Theater, as board chair. She succeeds LARRY E. CONDON, who formerly served as president and board chair and now becomes chairman emeritus. ELIZABETH GILMORE, the foundation's long-serving board vice chair, will become director emerita.

Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut, has announced the appointment of DAVID BELMONT as chief risk officer. Belmont, most recently global head of hedge fund credit for UBS Investment Bank as well as managing director of risk management for UBS Prime Services, previously was chief risk officer at Temasek Holdings in Singapore, where he also served as a director with Anderson LLP and founded that company's Asian financial and commodity risk consulting practice.

The Center for Effective Philanthropy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has announced the election of Wallace Foundation president M. CHRISTINE DeVITA to its board. DeVita, an attorney who has led the Wallace Foundation since 1989 and is set to retire in June, serves on the board of the Foundation Center, PND's parent organization.

In other news, the Council on Foundations in Arlington, Virginia, has announced the elections of SIDNEY HARGRO, JOHN KOBARA, LAUREN CASTEEL, and BRIAN BYRNES to its Community Foundations Leadership Team. Hargro is CEO of the Community Foundation of South Jersey. Kobara is executive vice president and COO of the California Community Foundation. Casteel is vice president of philanthropic partnerships at the Denver Foundation and previously served as a communications adviser to the mayor of Denver and as a broadcast journalist. Byrnes is president and CEO of the Santa Fe Foundation.