Northwest Area Foundation Launches Search for New CEO.
New Executive to Lead Strategic Realignment
Contact: Sylvia Burgos
Northwest Area Foundation
sburgos@nwaf.org
651-255-7704
Jan. 3, 2007, St. Paul, MN: The board of directors of the Northwest Area Foundation has posted the qualities and experience it wants in a new, permanent CEO. “We are searching for someone who can lead the Foundation into the next chapter of its pioneering work in poverty reduction,” said Board Chair Daniel Kemmis. “We are intent on finding a candidate with the passion, vision, and collaborative skills to make the Foundation the most effective player it can be in this challenging work,” he said.
Karl Stauber, Northwest Area Foundation’s president and CEO from 1996 to mid-2007, resigned in July to become president and CEO of The Danville Regional Foundation, Danville, Virginia. Kari Schlachtenhaufen is serving as interim CEO. A past president of the Skillman Foundation, most recently, she was vice president of corporate affairs for Ovations, a division of UnitedHealth Group.
“The new CEO will be coming into the Foundation at a time of high opportunity,” said Kemmis. In October the board of directors reconfirmed the Foundation’s commitment to its mission – reducing poverty long term – and it voted to realign the organization’s core strategy for realizing that mission. The board is currently in the midst of strategic planning; a process which will be completed after the permanent CEO is on board, expected by early spring.
Anyone interested in the position should contact the search firm of Isaacson, Miller for full information, www.imsearch.com. The job description will also be available on the Foundation’s website, www.nwaf.org.
The decision to examine and realign the Foundation’s strategic direction was anticipated nearly 10 years ago, when the Foundation set its current mission and strategy. At that time, the board determined that the Foundation’s largest program would engage entire communities in 10-year partnerships – a departure from conventional grantmaking.
“Our community partnerships have been based on organizations that were specially created to do the work. Eight years into this effort, we see those partnerships doing pioneering work in reducing poverty, and producing valuable lessons for other communities,” said Kemmis. “We will continue to work with and learn from these ground-breaking partners. Meanwhile, their hard-earned experience has shown us how we can now take another step for even greater impact on poverty in our region,” Kemmis said. “As we move forward, our core strategy will be to leverage the Foundation’s resources by applying future grant dollars to proven and promising organizations anchored in their local communities and already working on long-term poverty reduction.”
Foundation board and staff are developing details of the strategic realignment and a new grantmaking process will be implemented under the leadership of the new CEO. “We look forward to meeting with organizations, enterprises and individuals about the lessons we have learned, and about the most effective way of pursuing this work” said Kemmis.
The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to helping communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon reduce poverty for the long term. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill established the foundation. The Foundation has approximately $500 million in assets. A new grantmaking process will be announced in several months.
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