The Commonwealth Fund has announced the planned retirement of executive vice president and chief operating officer JOHN E. CRAIG, JR. at the end of this year. Craig has worked at the fund for thirty-three years in a variety of roles, including vice president and treasurer, and has created systems to increase the fund's efficiency and transparency that set standards for the philanthropic community. Prior to joining the fund, Craig was a Foreign Service reserve officer in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971 and subsequently served as an economic advisor to several Asian and African governments while associated with the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of Commerce. His work with foundations began when he directed the Health Policy Research Group at Georgetown University School of Medicine and helped evaluate and design several programs sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Subsequently, Craig launched the John A. Hartford Foundation's healthcare financing reform program. In addition to his duties at Commonwealth, Craig serves as chair of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York City and on the boards of the International Women's Health Coalition and the TIFF Education Foundation. "John Craig's introduction of professional financial and management practices at a critical moment helped secure [our] endowment and ensure that the foundation could continue its work for decades to come," said Commonwealth Fund board president James R. Tallon, Jr. "He has been a treasure not only to the Commonwealth Fund, but to the entire field of philanthropy."

The Cerebral Palsy International Research Foundation has announced the appointment of RICHARD ELLENSON as CEO. Ellenson is the founder and CEO of two companies (Blink Twice and Panther) that helped transform and re-imagine the field of assistive technology for people with disabilities. Earlier, he was an advertising executive who created campaigns for brands such as American Express and Remy Martin and who penned the line, "It's Not TV. It's HBO." "The world of disabilities and not-for-profits is complex," said CPIRF chair Bill Richards, who has a sixteen-year-old son with cerebral palsy. "Yet, new technologies and new media are creating unprecedented opportunities for research, solutions, and building community. We wanted to bring in someone who understands not only the world of disabilities and not-for-profits, but also the world of marketing and communications."

The Helios Education Foundation has announced the appointment of CHARLES HOKANSON as senior vice president and chief policy officer, a senior leadership position responsible for leading the organization's work related to public policy, research, and evaluation. Most recently president and CEO of the Hokanson Consulting Group, Hokanson previously served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education and as president of two leading education reform nonprofits, the Alliance for School Choice and Advocates for School Choice. He also served as professional staff member/education counsel to now-Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, where he was a key staff negotiator for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and led the committee's efforts to reform and re-authorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

The Saint Luke's Foundation of Cleveland has announced the appointment of NELSON BECKFORD as senior program officer for strong communities. Beckford, most recently a program officer for the Cleveland Foundation, earlier worked for the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, the University Hospitals Health System, Cole Managed Vision, and the American Red Cross, and before that served as an infantry team leader in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division. His present and past community and volunteer work includes roles with Philanthropy Ohio, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, the Project for Public Spaces, Detroit Justice Department Shoreway Weed and Seed, and the Ohio City Near West Development Corporation. This spring, he will complete his master's degree in psychology at Cleveland State University, where his thesis research focused on factors that contribute to neighborhood commitment.

Science Foundation Arizona has announced the appointment of SUZANNE KINNEY as director of the Arizona STEM Network. Kinney, previously senior vice president for public policy at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also was the founder and executive director of the Arizona Chamber Foundation, a public policy think tank. Earlier, she served as a senior management research analyst at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University and worked as a management consultant for Diamond Technology Consultants (now a PriceWaterhouse Coopers company).

The Donors Forum in Chicago has announced the appointment of ERIC WEINHEIMER as president and CEO, effective July 1. Weinheimer has served for the past eighteen years as president and CEO of the Cara Program, a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides employment support services to adults struggling with poverty, and earlier worked in the financial services industry at a variety of institutions, including GE Capital and UBS. He was also a member of the 2013 Emerging Leader Program for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, is a Chicago Community Trust Fellow, and was appointed by Illinois governor Pat Quinn to the Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise Task Force. Weinheimer currently serves on the advisory board for the University of Chicago's Social Enterprise Initiative and on the boards of the Social Enterprise Alliance, Streetwise, and the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation. He will succeed VALERIE S. LIES, who is retiring after twenty-seven years as the top executive at the forum.

The Center for Effective Philanthropy has announced the appointments of HILARY PENNINGTON, FAY TWERSKY, and LYNN PERRY WOOTEN to its board, effective May 1. Pennington is vice president of the Ford Foundation's Education, Creativity and Free Expression program and also oversees the foundation's grantmaking in philanthropy as well as regional programming in Africa and the Middle East. Previously, she served as director of education, postsecondary success, and special initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and was co-founder and president/CEO of Jobs for the Future. Twersky, director of the Effective Philanthropy Group at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, previously served as an advisor at Yad Hanadiv (the Rothschild Family Foundation) and as a director and member of the leadership team of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she designed the foundation's Impact Planning & Improvement division. She also was a founding principal of BTW - Informing Change, and has been a long-serving member of CEP's advisory board. Wooten, associate dean of undergraduate programs and clinical associate professor of strategy, management, and organizations at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and scholar-in-residence at the Council of Michigan Foundations, has worked for a variety of organizations, including Whirlpool, Google, General Motors, the Michigan Nonprofit Association, the Executive Leadership Institute, Trinity Health, and General Dynamics.

In other news, the National Audubon Society has announced the election of DAVID B. FORD as board chair and the appointments of AJAY SHAH, JAMES C. GREENWOOD, and MICHELE CRIST as board members. Ford, president of DBF Associates, also is a senior advisor at investment firm Gatemore Capital Management and chair of Princess Pictures, a family entertainment movie and television company; earlier, he spent thirty years at the Goldman Sachs Group. Shah is a manager at private equity firm Silver Lake and earlier founded Shah Capital Partners, founded and managed the technology solutions business of Solectron, and served as CEO of Smart Modular Technologies. Greenwood is president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington, D.C., and earlier represented the Eighth Congressional District in Pennsylvania for six terms. Crist is a landscape ecologist and works with Conservation Science Partners as a science associate; she also is director of Audubon's Central-North region and serves as president of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society.