The Charles F. Kettering Foundation has announced the appointment of SHARON L. DAVIES as president and CEO, effective in April. DAVID MATHEWS, who has led the foundation since 1981, will become president emeritus. Davies has held a variety of leadership posts at Ohio State University, where she has served 22 years on the faculty of the Moritz College of Law, including as associate dean of the law school, as executive director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity, and as vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer for OSU. 

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has announced that chief investment officer JONATHAN HOOK will retire at the end of August. He will be succeeded by deputy CIO DAVID GILMORE. Since 2014, when Hook and Gilmore joined the foundation, total assets have grown to more than $3.3 billion from $2.1 billion—a nearly 60 percent increase. As a result, the foundation’s grantmaking has grown accordingly, and the foundation expects to award approximately $140 million in grants in 2022.

The Russell Family Foundation has announced the appointment of three people to its Investment & Audit Committee (IAC). The new members include AMITRA VATSAL, owner and managing director of EcoTrust Forest Management; ROBIN WANG, founding principal, Vibrant Future LLC; and GEORGETTE WONG, CEO of Correlation Consulting. The IAC provides oversight of the foundation’s investment affairs. 

The Samueli Family Philanthropies has announced the appointment of LINDSEY SPINDLE as its new president. Spindle is currently president of the Jeff Skoll Group, which works to connect Skoll’s entrepreneurial portfolio of philanthropic and commercial organizations, including the impact entertainment company Participant, Capricorn Investment Group, and the Skoll Foundation, where Spindle will remain a board member.

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has announced the addition of ARTHUR LEWIS and CINDY RACHOFSKY to its board of trustees. Lewis is a partner and creative director of UTA Fine Arts and UTA Artist Space in Los Angeles. Rachofsky previously served on amfAR’s board of trustees from 2010 to 2020, and she and her husband, Howard, have supported amfAR since 1999 and have served as hosts of the annual TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art gala, which benefits both amfAR and the Dallas Museum of Art. Over the past two decades, TWO x TWO has raised more than $100 million, and the Rachofskys received amfAR’s Award of Courage in 2009. 

The recently launched Global Methane Hub, a global alliance of more than 20 leading philanthropies and organizations committed to reducing global methane emissions by more than 30 percent by the year 2030, has announced the appointment of MARCELO MENA as its new CEO. Mena previously served as the Chilean minister of the environment and has extensive experience as a scientist, activist, professor, and policy maker. In his role as minister of environment, he spearheaded multiple international environmental initiatives including helping craft a landmark agreement to phase out coal power generation and establish South America’s first carbon taxes for power generation and new car sales, while creating 45,000 square kilometers of national parks and protecting 1.3 million square kilometers of ocean.

The National Theatre Foundation has announced the addition of four people to its board of directors. Joining the board are private equity pioneer DARYN DODSON, longtime nonprofit and arts leader PETER JABLOW, advertising and marketing executive JEAN KOMENDERA, and civic leader and two-term mayor of Washington, D.C., ANTHONY A. WILLIAMS. 

The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) has announced several updates to its board of directors. SHANE FOLEY, cyber, risk & regulatory partner at PwC, LILIAN YANG, co-founder of RiverEast Capital, and MIKAL FINKELSTEIN were elected to the organization’s board of directors. In addition, NYSPCC has appointed CHRISTINE CURRAN as president of its Junior Society, which also named TYLER HYACINTH as vice president of its board, OERTA TREPCA as treasurer of the board, and ELIZA BREED as secretary of the board. Notably, Breed is a descendent of Elbridge Thomas Gerry, founder of the NYSPCC, and Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the fifth vice president of the United States.

The San Francisco Ballet has announced that DANIELLE ST.GERMAIN-GORDON has been appointed executive director. For the past nine months, she has served as the ballet’s interim executive director. St.Germain-Gordon will partner with TAMARA ROJO, the recently appointed artistic director. Over the past several months, St.Germain-Gordon has shepherded the company through a period of transition, following its year-and-a-half-long closure during the pandemic and its first change in artistic director in nearly four decades.