The San Francisco Foundation has announced the appointment of GAIL FULLER as vice president of marketing and strategic communications. In that role, Fuller will lead SFF's communications efforts as the organization rolls out its new strategy to advance racial and economic inclusion in the San Francisco Bay Area. Fuller most recently served as vice president of communications and marketing at Rebuilding Together, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on transforming the lives of low-income homeowners, and before that served as communications director at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

The J. Paul Getty Trust has announced the appointment of RICHARD FAGEN as vice president of computing and digital initiatives, a new position. Fagen joins the Getty from the California Institute of Technology, where he has served as chief information officer since 2005 and was director of information technology services from 1984 to 1999. From 1999 to 2001, Fagen served as vice president and managing director of Idealab, where he managed information technology infrastructure and coordinated technology transfer opportunities with research universities.

The Northland Foundation, a regional foundation serving the communities of northeastern Minnesota, has announced the election of its 2016-17 executive committee, as well as three new trustees. Elected to the executive committee were STEVE DOWNING, a retired consultant (chair); TRENT JANEZICH, executive director, Advanced – Northeast Higher Education District (vice chair); NEVADA LITTLEWOLF, executive director, Rural American Indigenous Leadership (vice chair); JASON HOLLINDAY, director of planning, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (secretary); and TOM RIDER, co-owner, Lutsen Mountains Ski and Summer Resort (treasurer). The new trustees are CINDY ANDERSON BINA, a counselor at Vermilion Community College; LISA KRUSE, community education director for McGregor Schools; and PETER McDERMOTT, president/CEO of Minnesota Diversified Industries (MDI), a not-for-profit social enterprise serving people with disabilities.

PepsiCo, Inc. has announced the election of DARREN WALKER as an independent member of its board of directors, effective September 21. Walker currently serves as president of the Ford Foundation, the second-largest private foundation in the United States, and chairs the United States National Advisory Board on Impact Investing. Prior to joining Ford, Walker served as vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation (2005-10) and as chief operating officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlem's largest community development organization (1995 to 2002). Earlier in his career, Walker worked in international law and finance at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and UBS.

The Mid-America Arts Alliance has announced that MARY KENNEDY has decided to resign after twenty-seven years of service to the organization, the last fourteen as CEO.  Kennedy joined M-AAA in 1989 as curator of exhibitions for ExhibitsUSA, the regional arts organization’s national traveling exhibition program, and subsequently served as director of ExhibitsUSA and director of programs. During her tenure, she also co-created important M-AAA programs such as HELP (Hands-on Experiential Learning Project), NEH on the Road, Artistic Innovations, Creativity Connects, and ENGAGE, and organized and curated more than forty exhibitions. A committee under the direction of M-AAA board chair Ed Clifford will lead a national search for Kennedy’s successor, while TODD STEIN, COO, will serve as interim CEO.

In other news, PND notes the passing of PETER deCOURCY HERO, a transformative figure in Silicon Valley philanthropy, on August 22 at the age of 73. Hero, an MBA graduate of Stanford University, took over the Community Foundation of Santa Clara County in 1988, inheriting an organization with a mere $9 million in assets. By the time he stepped down as president and CEO in 2006, the organization’s assets had grown to $1.2 billion, and the foundation, which had changed its name to the Community Foundation Silicon Valley, was in the process of merging with the Peninsula Community Foundation, a merger that created the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, today the largest community foundation in the world. “Peter was a visionary. He was very likeable and an excellent fundraiser,” said Greg Avis, a partner at Summit Partners and chairman of the CFSCC's board when Hero took over. “When a donor called, he always picked up the phone. It struck me how…issues [such as affordable housing and poverty] have come back to the forefront with this latest cycle. He taught people to not look at these issues as a drag on our society but an opportunity to bring the whole society up.”

PND also notes the passing of New York City real estate professional and philanthropist DANIEL Z. NELSON on August 23 after complications due to a fall. Nelson, 86, Nelson created and administered New York City’s Education Construction Fund (ECF) in 1967 (later revived under Mayor Michael Bloomberg), enabling the construction of more than $1 billion in new development, including 4,500 units of new housing and 1.2 million square feet of office space over the course of its history. Subsequently, as the city’s deputy coordinator for housing and development, he oversaw the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, one of the most successful middle-income housing programs in the country. Nelson shifted to the private sector in 1973 and served as president and CEO of Cauldwell – Wingate Co. and as president of Nelson Equities. He also served on the board of Maimonides Hospital for more than three decades and oversaw a $40 million restoration of New York City’s historic Central Synagogue after a devastating fire.