The Nathan Cummings Foundation has announced the appointment of SHARON ALPERT as its fourth president and CEO, and the first woman to serve in the role. Alpert has worked at the Surdna Foundation for the past eleven years, rising from associate program officer to her current position as vice president of programs and strategic initiatives. Previously, she built more than twenty years of experience in the philanthropic, environmental, and community development fields as well as the private sector. Under her leadership, Surdna refreshed strategies across all of its programs, redesigned its grants management office, and launched a new communications department. Alpert also drove new board initiatives to transform Surdna's program oversight and expand mission-related investing. "The Surdna Foundation's significant loss is the Nathan Cummings Foundation's extraordinary gain," said Surdna Foundation board chair Jocelyn Downie. "Where [we are] now with respect to a strong sense of mission, a clear vision for our programmatic strategies, and a flexible but steady dedication to our strategic plan is in no small measure a testament to Sharon."

The Ruth Mott Foundation has announced the appointment of RAFAEL C. TURNER as a program officer. Turner, currently a senior consultant with the Flint Area Reinvestment Office, worked for more than a decade in the office of U.S. Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-MI, retired), starting as an intern and later serving in a variety of roles including constituent services representative and, ultimately, deputy district director. For the past four years, Turner has served on the boards of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, the Mott Community College, and the Association of Community College Trustees.

The Colorado Trust has announced the hire of LORENA MALDONADO as executive administrative assistant to president and CEO Ned Calonge. Maldonado joins the trust from the Hispanic Chamber Foundation, where she spent the last few years producing seminars, workshops, and other offerings, as well as coordinating affairs for its board. Previously, she held several positions at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver, including executive assistant to the president.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation has announced the election of CHAD BOETTCHER and TESSIE GUILLERMO to its board. Boettcher, executive vice president of advocacy and social impact at Participant Media, previously taught marketing innovation at New York University and was senior vice president of social innovation at Weber Shandwick, where he helped lead a team that advised clients on corporate social responsibility, citizenship, sustainability, and cause marketing. Earlier, he served as Nike's global director of corporate responsibility, directed strategic partnerships and public affairs for MTV, and worked for the presidential campaigns of both Al Gore and Barack Obama. Guillermo, president and CEO of social impact consultancy ZeroDivide, previously spent fifteen years as CEO of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. In 2000, President Bill Clinton appointed her as an inaugural member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Guillermo currently serves on the boards of Dignity Health, the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children's Health, and the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy has named JOHN D. WINNETT as executive vice president, the Wilson Post reports. Winnett, most recently chief development and external affairs officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee, formerly served as president of nonprofit consultancy WOW! IMPACT. He currently serves as a board member and advisor for organizations including Dining Out for Life and NeedLink Nashville. He will succeed MARTHA KIRKLAND, who is retiring after seven years with AFP, including three as executive vice president.

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy has announced the appointments of BILL DEMPSEY, CRISTINA JIMENEZ, MOLLY SCHULTZ HAFID, and STARSKY D. WILSON to its board. Dempsey, CFO of the Service Employees International Union, has twenty-five years of experience managing organizations working to provide economic and social justice for low-income families and working class communities. Jimenez, co-founder and managing director of the United We Dream Network, has spent the past nine years organizing immigrant youth and workers to pass pro-immigration policies. Schultz Hafid, assistant director of the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, also plays a leadership role in the Funders for Justice coalition. Wilson, president and CEO of the Deaconess Foundation and a pastor at Saint John's Church in St. Louis, was appointed by Missouri governor Jay Nixon as co-chair of the Ferguson Commission.

In other news, PND notes the sudden passing of tropical and travel medicine expert ALAN MAGILL at the age of 61. Magill, who served as director of the malaria program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the past three years, previously directed drug discovery and vaccine programs at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He also served as president of the International Society of Travel Medicine, which has published a tribute page to Magill on its website, and was president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. "The scientific community has lost an amazing leader, and our foundation has lost a treasured friend and colleague," noted Bill and Melinda Gates in a statement. "Although Alan led our foundation's work on malaria, his influence went far beyond any single disease. He had a rare gift for bringing people together and helping them work toward a common goal. He also combined a deep knowledge of science with a hard-earned understanding of what happens out in the field. Most importantly, Alan never gave up on the idea that humanity can wipe out terrible diseases....When we talk about the kinds of leaders we want at the foundation, we simply say: We want more people like Alan Magill."