The Ford Foundation has announced the hiring of Detroit native KEVIN RYAN as its new Detroit-based program officer. In that position, Ryan, who comes to the foundation after fourteen years at the New York Foundation, will be charged with overseeing the $15 million in grants the foundation is making in Detroit annually, the most it is making in any city. In his new role, Ryan will be based in shared office space inside the Kellogg Foundation's downtown Detroit office.

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation in Owings Mills, Maryland, has announced the election of ROBERT T. KELLY, JR. to a three-year term as chairman of its board. Kelly, who has served as a trustee of the foundation since 2006, succeeds BARRY I. SCHLOSS, who joined the foundation in 2004 and most recently served as chair of the board for a three-year term that concluded May 31. Kelly, a founding partner of the law firm of Myers, Brier & Kelly, LLP, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, spent the early years of his legal career as an attorney with the Philadelphia law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP. Prior to law school, Kelly spent several years as a certified public accountant with Price Waterhouse, in New York and Washington, D.C.

The California Endowment has announced the election of ZAC GUEVARRA as chairman of its board. Guevara retired in 2009 after a thirty-year career with Capital International Research, where he served as an investment analyst, research director, board member, and executive vice president. A resident of San Marino in Los Angeles County, Guevara serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including Para Los Ninos (past chair), MALDEF (past chair), Communities in Schools of Los Angeles, KIPP-LA, the I Have a Dream Foundation - Los Angeles, Self Help Graphics & Art, and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute. The foundation also announced the election of SHAWN GINWRIGHT as vice chair of the board. Ginwright, a leading national expert on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development, currently serves on the board at the School-Based Health Alliance. In 1989, he founded Leadership Excellence, an innovative youth development agency located in Oakland, California. He also is the co-founder of Flourish Agenda, a social impact company that supports schools and community organizations with building well-being and healthy school climates.

The board of directors of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has announced the election of MICHAEL O. HILTON as the newest member of the board. Grandson of Conrad N. Hilton, Hilton has nearly three decades of experience working in the hospitality industry and currently serves as vice president-project management for Hilton Grand Vacations. He previously served as an intern on the foundation's board and as a member of its Generations in Giving (GIG) committee, and currently serves on the foundation's building committee.

Following a unanimous vote, the board of the Japan Society in New York City has announced JOSEPH R. PERELLA, founding partner and chair of Perella Weinberg Partners, as its new chair. Perella, whose experience with Japan goes back more than forty years, succeeds WILBUR L. ROSS, who stepped down as chair in February following his appointment as U.S. Commerce Secretary. Perella, who has served on the Japan Society board since March 2014, is also a director of the American Italian Cancer Foundation, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Boys & Girls Harbor, Inc., the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the Italy and the Holocaust Foundation; a trustee of Lehigh University and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund; an advisory director of the board of the Metropolitan Opera Association and a member of the director’s advisory board for Yale Cancer Center; and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former member of the Business Roundtable. 

In other news, PND notes the passing of SUSAN Ross, who led the Fairfield County Community Foundation for fifteen years, on May 17 after a battle with cancer. Ross, whose husband, Charles MacCormack, led the global humanitarian agency Save the Children for nearly two decades, was a significant figure in Connecticut philanthropy, with the Norwalk-based FCCF steering more than $125 million to varying causes in the region during her tenure as CEO (1996-2011). Under her guidance, the foundation also created a center for nonprofit excellence that provides leadership seminars to the managers and trustees of nonprofits in the region. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Ross earned a bachelor's of arts degree from  the University of Michigan and a master's of arts from Boston University. In addition to her leadership of FCCF, she served as a director of the Bridgeport regional Business Council, the Connecticut Council for the Advancement of 21st Century Skills and Careers, and the local affiliate of Planned Parenthood.