United Way Worldwide has announced the appointment of MARY B. SELLERS as its U.S. president, effective in May. In that role, Sellers, currently president and CEO of United Way of Central Iowa, will be responsible for working with United Way leaders to help create communities in the U.S. and around the world.  Prior to joining United Way, Sellers held leadership and governance roles in the museum field. Since 2013, she has served on the executive committee of the United Way Worldwide National Professional Council.

Brussels-based Carnegie Europe, the European affiliate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has announced TOMAS VALASEK as its new director. Valášek joins the organization after serving as the permanent representative of the Slovak Republic to NATO for nearly four years. Before that, he was president of the Central European Policy Institute in Bratislava (2012–2013), director of foreign policy and defense at the Centre for European Reform in London (2007–2012), and founder and director of the Brussels office of the World Security Institute (2002–2006). From 2006 to 2007, he served as acting political director and head of the security and defense policy division at the Slovak Ministry of Defense.

The J. Paul Getty Trust has announced the election of BRUCE W. DUNLEVIE to its board of trustees. Dunlevie has worked in the early-stage technology venture capital industry for thirty years and is a founder and general partner of Benchmark Capital, based in Silicon Valley. Prior to co-founding Benchmark Capital, Dunlevie worked in investment banking at Goldman, Sachs. He currently is chairs the board of the Stanford Management Company, the entity which oversees the Stanford University endowment, and is a former trustee of Stanford University (2006-16) and of his alma mater, Rice University. 

The Scripps Research Institute has announced the appointment of business leader and philanthropist to RONALD W. BURKLE to its board of directors. Burkle is the founder of investment firm Yucaipa Companies and founder and chair of the Ronald W. Burkle Foundation. He also serves as co-chair of the Burkle Center for International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles and is a trustee of the Carter Center, the National Urban League, and AIDS Project Los Angeles and has been an active member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy. 

The Minneapolis-based National Ataxia Foundation has announced the promotion of JOEL SUTHERLAND to the position of executive director. Sutherland previously served as national director of development for NAF, which works to support promising Ataxia research and to provide vital programs and services for people with Ataxia and their families. Prior to joining NAF, Sutherland served as executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for four years.

Credential Engine, a new 501(C)(3) nonprofit launched with initial support from JPMorgan Chase and Lumina Foundation, has announced SCOTT CHENEY as its first executive director. Cheney brings broad expertise to the challenges faced in the U.S. credentialing marketplace and most recently served as policy director of workforce, economic development and pensions for Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He also served as staff lead on the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and has been staff lead on efforts to reauthorize the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and to pass legislation to expand registered apprenticeships in the country.

In other news, PND notes the passing of ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ, a member of the board of directors of the Central Valley Community Foundation from 2012 to 2014. "Judge Rodriguez was trailblazer and inspiration to many of us in the Central Valley," said Ashley Swearengin, president and CEO of the foundation. "Throughout my time as mayor of Fresno, I had the privilege to see firsthand the many ways in which Judge Rodriguez positively impacted ourcommunity." Before his death, Rodriguez established a memorial fund in honor of his wife, Betty Rodriguez, to provide college scholarships to local students. To learn more or to make a donation in honor of Rodriguez, click here.

PND also notes the passing of THOMAS R. WOLANIN, a senior associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy from 1996 to 2016. "As one of the original architects of the federal Pell Grant program, Tom was a true champion for college access and affordability for our nation's students," said IHEP President Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D. "The IHEP community was enriched by Tom's unparalleled understanding of the federal policymaking landscape and inspired by his example." Wolanin's federal service included a long tenure with the U.S. House of Representatives as staff director for the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, where he led the subcommittee’s efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in 1980, 1986, and 1992. He also served as deputy assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs at the U.S. Department of Education, where he worked to enact the Federal Direct Loan Program, GOALS 2000: Educate America Act, and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. In 2000, he was appointed by then-U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley as a member of the bipartisan Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which provided the secretary and Congress with recommendations to improve access to postsecondary education for low- and middle-income students. Wolanin’s expertise was featured in Looking Back to Move Forward, a film series documenting the policy and political origins of federal financial aid programs.