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MacArthur, MMA And National Assembly Have New Bosses

A trio of large nonprofits have chosen new leaders. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Human Services Assembly have all announced new executives at the top.

Julia Stasch, who has been interim president at the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago for the past eight months, will lose the “interim” from her title and be the foundation’s next president. She replaces Robert Gallucci, president from 2009 until his contract expired in July 2014.

“During a far reaching presidential search over the past eight months, we watched Julia rapidly changing the work and the point of view of the foundation. We realized that she was already the president that we hoped to find,” said MacArthur Board Chairman Marjorie Scardino via a statement. “We wanted someone with a breadth of experience, who thinks big and has a bias for action, who has run a complex organization and can select and lead smart people. Julia has shown us that she is that person.”

Stasch was the foundation’s vice president for U.S. programs for 13 years. She also held positions in Chicago city government and in the banking industry. “I am honored to be asked to help bring MacArthur’s significant assets to bear on the complex and challenging problems of our times,” said Stasch in the release. She mentioned a focus on a $100 million competition “for meaningful progress in solving a single important social problem.”

In New York City, the Met announced that Daniel Weiss would be the museum’s new president. He will replace Emily Kernan Rafferty, who will retire at the end this month. Weiss joined the Met after having been president of Haverford College in Pennsylvania since 2013.

Weiss has a doctorate in art history from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Yale. “It is an honor and privilege to be joining this extraordinary museum at such a special time in its history,” said Weiss in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with (director and CEO) Tom Campbell and my new colleagues as we implement the new strategic plan, open the Breuer building, and develop exciting new programs in the years ahead. As a lifelong visitor to the Met I am especially pleased to be joining such an exceptional team.”

The Met was ranked 30 in the 2014 The NonProfit Times Top 100 list of the largest U.S. charities, with $631.5 million in total revenue in 2013. It recently announced the museum’s modern and contemporary art wing would be renovated.

National Human Services Assembly President and CEO Irv Katz will retire in April. Replacing him at the Washington, D.C.-based coalition will be Gloria Johnson-Cusack. Johnson Cusack was with the Leadership 18, an alliance of CEOs of human services nonprofits, most of which are members of NHSA.

“I have proud working-class roots and feel a deep, personal sense of responsibility to create more opportunities for more people. The status quo is not good enough,” said Johnson-Cusack via a statement. “At its heart, that’s what the Assembly is about and it is my honor to champion change in partnership with these passionate, innovative leaders.”

Search committee member and executive vice president and general counsel of AARP Cindy Lewin said of Johnson-Cusack, ““Gloria’s stellar record in leadership positions across the nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental sectors gives us complete confidence that she is the right person to continue to grow the National Assembly’s ability to deliver, both for its members and for society at large.”

Katz has led NHSA, a coalition of some 90 human services nonprofits, since 2001. He has been included in The NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 for 11 years in a row, from 2004 through 2014.