The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has announced the appointment of SARAH T. LUCAS as a program officer in its Global Development and Population program. In that role, Lucas will focus on the use of data and policy research to inform policymaking that affects people in developing countries; will support the Think Tank Initiative, a ten-year effort to provide funding to policy research organizations in East and West Africa, Latin America, and South Asia; and will be responsible for the foundation's work on the effectiveness of development assistance. Previously, Lucas worked at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a United States development agency, in several capacities, including partnership-building with African countries and in the agency's policy and evaluation area, and at the Center for Global Development, where she lead the organization's efforts to become a resource for policymakers and advocacy organizations that use research to inform policy.  

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has announced the planned retirement of BART LUBOW, director of its juvenile justice strategy group, on June 30. During his more than twenty-year career at the foundation, Lubow designed its Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative and helped shape its efforts to reduce youth gun violence, end the death penalty for juveniles, and research the ramifications of prosecuting and confining juveniles as adults. He began his career in criminal justice at the New York City Legal Aid Society, where he pioneered the development of social work interventions to enhance representation in criminal cases, and later served as director of Alternatives to Incarceration for New York State. Lubow serves on a number of local and national boards and will continue to be affiliated with the foundation as a senior consultant.

The Rasmuson Foundation has announced two promotions: JEFF BAIRD, who joined the foundation in 2011, to the position of senior program associate; and CLAUDIA MARIA MATEO, who joined the foundation in 2013, to the position of executive assistant and board liaison. In addition, the foundation has hired KELLY WAGNER as an administrative assistant and receptionist and LILY WEED as a communications intern, in which position she will assist with efforts related to the foundation's 60th anniversary and new Web site.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced the appointment of PHYLLIS M. WISE to its board. Wise, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a nationally recognized researcher in women's health and gender-based biology, previously served as an administrator and educator at several institutions of higher learning, including the University of Washington, University of California-Davis, University of Kentucky, and University of Maryland. She currently serves on the boards of Nike, Inc. and the RAND Health Board of Advisors.

The Ruderman Family Foundation has announced MICHAEL STEIN as the winner of its first Morton E. Ruderman Award, which recognizes extraordinary contribution to the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Jewish world and the greater public. Stein, co-founder and executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, is an advocate for disability rights around the world and advises a number of United Nations bodies, international governments, and human rights institutions on disability laws and policies. He also has acted as legal counsel to disabled rights organizations, including Rehabilitation International, Disabled Peoples' International, and Special Olympics International.

The Health Foundation of South Florida has announced the election of RICHARD LAVIÑA to a second term as board chair. An executive vice president and regional president for HSBC Southeast and a twenty-eight-year veteran of the commercial banking sector, Laviña has served on the foundation's board for seven years. He also has been active in several other local philanthropic organizations, including the Miami Foundation, where he served as board vice chair and investment committee chair.

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation has announced the appointments of ELSA M. NUÑEZ and WARREN SIMMONS to its board. Nuñez, president of Eastern Connecticut State University, has worked in education for more than forty years and is a recognized leader in liberal arts education and advancing Latino achievement and professional representation in higher education. Simmons, executive director of Brown University's Annenberg Institute for School Reform, is a recent recipient of the Distinguished Citizens Award from the National Governors Association and has served on the advisory groups and boards of several institutions, including the National Center on Education and the Economy, the Public Education Network, the Merck Institute, the National Equity Project, PLATO Learning, and the Campaign for Educational Equity.

The Iowa West Foundation has announced the appointments of MARK GENEREUX, DOUG GOODMAN, and WARREN WEBER to its board. Genereux is an investment advisor and owner of Genereux Investment Management. Goodman is manager of Clear Title & Abstract LLC. Weber retired from the Council Bluffs Community School District after a 29-year career as a school principal, district curriculum director, and classroom teacher.

Public policy nonprofit Demos has announced the appointment of HEATHER McGHEE as president, effective March 10. McGhee, currently the organization’s vice president of policy and outreach, has worked at Demos for ten years and helped spearhead its organizational restructuring, rebranding, and mission realignment two years ago. In addition, she is an influential voice in the media and frequent commentator on public policy for MSNBC.  As director of Demos' Washington office from 2009-11, she helped shape the package of financial reforms known as Dodd-Frank as well as the Consumer Protection Act, chaired the Systemic Risk task force for the public interest coalition Americans For Financial Reform, and was one of the key advocates credited with securing adoption of the Volcker Rule. Earlier, McGhee served as deputy policy director for John Edwards' 2008 primary campaign, where she crafted a domestic policy platform widely praised as the most ambitious and detailed in that election cycle. "Heather is really one of the most extraordinary leaders I have ever met," said Miles Rapoport, outgoing Demos president and president-elect of Common Cause. “She is passionate about justice and democracy, she's a broad and creative thinker with a real sense of strategy and vision, and she's a wonderful public spokesperson for the progressive movement. Most importantly, Heather is a wonderful internal organizer, caring as much about how we do what we do as what we do."

United States Artists has announced the appointment of CAROLINA GARCIA JAYARAM as CEO, effective February 24. Jayaram is currently executive director of the Chicago Artists Coalition, where her efforts to build a sustainable marketplace for artist-entrepreneurs earned her the Chicago Tribune's "Chicagoan of the Year in Arts" award in 2013. Earlier, she was founding executive director of Miami arts residency nonprofit Cannonball and worked at the PEN American Center in New York City.

The Aspen Institute has announced the appointment of JOHN COLBORN as director of its Skills for America's Future initiative. Colborn, a fifteen-year veteran of the Ford Foundation, where he currently is vice president in charge of global operations and has worked as a program officer for grantmaking and organized funder networks in the areas of workforce development and community colleges, has served on a variety of boards and advisory panels within the philanthropic sector, including those of the Foundation Center and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. 

In other news, the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation notes the passing on January 17 of its first executive director, JANET ADAMS FEARON, after a long illness. Fearon, a protégée of Charlotte Rachel Wilson Newcombe, who made it possible for Fearon to attend Wellesley College, led the foundation from 1979 through 2007 and served as a trustee until her death. During Fearon's tenure, the foundation awarded $45.8 million in grants in support of more than 33,000 fellowships and scholarships at over a hundred colleges and universities and initiated fifty-four endowed scholarship funds with a combined value over $12 million.