In a note posted on the Skoll Foundation website on Tuesday, JEFF SKOLL announced shifts in top management at the Skoll Global Threats Fund. LARRY BRILLIANT, who helped establish the fund five years ago, will step down as president in January 2015 and transition into a role as senior advisor for the Jeff Skoll Group. And ANNIE MAXWELL, the fund’s chief operating officer for the past four years, will take over as president. Brilliant, a former vice president at Google and executive director of Google.org, is a nationally recognized public health expert and scholar and a frequent speaker and consultant on topics ranging from social action to large-scale social change. Before joining the Global Threats Fund, Maxwell was a White House Fellow, served as chief operating officer at Direct Relief International, and was partnerships/outreach officer for the United Nations' Office of the Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced the appointment of DONALD SCHWARZ as director of its Catalyzing Demand for Healthy Places and Practices portfolio. Schwarz, currently health commissioner and deputy mayor for health and opportunity for the city of Philadelphia, previously held top leadership and academic positions in the pediatric and adolescent medicine departments at the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he earlier served as an RWJF clinical scholar and an RWJF Development Fellow, respectively.

The Joyce Foundation has announced that BETH SWANSON will come aboard in September as vice president of strategy and programs. Swanson, previously deputy chief of staff for education for the city of Chicago, worked closely with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other leaders to define the city's education policy agenda. “Her experience at the intersection of policy and practice, and her shared love of our community, make her the perfect fit to support the work of our grantees,” the foundation noted in a press release.

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced the appointment of LOLA ADEDOKU as program director for its Child Well-Being Program and director of its African Health Initiative. In her new roles, Adedokun will oversee completion of the implementation and evaluation phases of the African Health Initiative and will manage the grantmaking activities of the Child Well-Being Program, formerly known as the Child Abuse Prevention Program. Adedoku has worked at the foundation since 2007, most recently as program officer for the African Health Initiative and as acting program officer for the Child Well-Being Program. Earlier, she worked as an HIV/AIDS data analyst at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and as an analyst at Abt Associates, where she assisted in the implementation of federally funded impact evaluations related to HIV/AIDS programming and research-capacity building. She also was a co-founder and advisor for the nonprofit Boys Speak Out, as well as an advisor for the Adaptive Education Languages Institute.

Grantmakers in the Arts reports that ERNEST TOLLERSON will join the Nathan Cummings Foundation as interim CEO, effective August 4. Last year, Tollerson reached the service limit – ten years – for service on the foundation’s board, which he also chaired for three years. Tollerson currently serves as a trustee of the Hudson River Foundation and the New York Historical Society, and earlier worked for the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority as director of environmental sustainability and compliance. The foundation expects to launch a search for a permanent CEO later this year.

The William Penn Foundation has announced the appointment of LAURA SPARKS as executive director. Sparks joined the foundation in 2012 and most recently served as its chief philanthropy officer, a senior executive position responsible for all philanthropic investments. Previously, she served as director of development finance initiatives at Citi, where she worked with businesses, government, and nonprofits to revitalize neighborhoods by increasing access to capital and housing for those in need. Earlier, she served as senior vice president for financial services at the Opportunity Finance Network. Sparks will succeed managing director PETER DEGNAN, who resigned after six months in the position for personal reasons.

The Pisces Foundation has announced the appointment of NANCY STONER as director of its water program. Stoner, currently acting assistant administrator for the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s water office, will be based in Washington, D.C. "[Nancy’s] hire completes a core staff of program officers, associates, and others who, working with a cadre of dedicated consultants, will implement a newly minted strategic plan,” said the foundation’s executive director, David Beckman.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has announced the appointment of CAROLE PRESERN as head of its Office of Board Affairs, a new position responsible for strategic reinforcement and overall support for the fund’s board, beginning in October. Presern, an experienced leader in the global health and development field, most recently served as executive director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health. Originally trained as a midwife and an anthropologist, Presern, a citizen of the UK, has worked in health policy and humanitarian affairs in several countries, including Nepal, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Cambodia, and has served in management roles at a number of institutions, including the GAVI Alliance and several UK government agencies.

In other news, the TB Alliance has announced the appointments of WILLO BROCK as senior vice president of external affairs and ELANA ROBERTSON as senior vice president of market access. Brock, most recently head of major donor relations for WWF International, has worked in the field of international development for more than twenty years and in more than sixty countries. A native of the Netherlands, he launched his career in the field at the Netherlands Ministry of Development in Pakistan and later served as director of resource development and communications for Habitat for Humanity International. Robertson joins the organization from Novartis Vaccines, where she was responsible for the company’s business in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. She has more than twenty years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry at a variety of companies, including Roche, Sanofi Pasteur, Schering Plough, Upjohn, and Intramed. A native of South Africa, Robertson began her career in the academic sector as a lecturer in physiology at the University of Witwatersrand and a researcher at the University of Stellenbosch.