Fred Blackwell with the San Francisco Foundation and Dr. Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq) with the National Indian Child Welfare Association Become Chair and Vice Chair, respectively
(WASHINGTON, November 16, 2021) – Today, Independent Sector announced its board officers for 2022, as well as four new directors and second-term board members.
The announcement and election by Independent Sector members of new board directors followed the nonprofit organization’s Annual Meeting and Members Town Hall, which were held virtually.
The new officers are Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation (Board Chair and former Board Vice Chair); Dr. Sarah Kastelic (Alutiiq), Executive Director of the National Indian Child Welfare Association (Board Vice Chair); Michael McAfee, President and CEO of PolicyLink (Secretary); Jennifer Ford Reedy, President of the Bush Foundation (Treasurer); and Larry Kramer, President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (At-Large). The Independent Sector Board of Directors elected the new officers.
The new directors are Ann Mei Chang, CEO of Candid; Dr. Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California; Dr. Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core; and Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, President of Sojourners. Each director, elected by Independent Sector members, will serve a three-year term. Candid, Interfaith Youth Core, and Sojourners are Independent Sector members.
Daniel J. Cardinali, President and CEO of Independent Sector, welcomed the new board officers and directors and thanked directors serving second terms. “Building a nation in which all people can thrive takes a collective effort, and we’re grateful to have such deep expertise, leadership, and wisdom on our board of directors,” Cardinali said. “As our nation and social sector work to make progress on racial justice and equity, as well as nonprofit and community health, our board members will be invaluable to these goals and what Independent Sector has long stood for – strengthening civil society for all.”
Additionally, the following directors have been re-elected to a second term: Janine Lee, President and CEO of Philanthropy Southeast (formerly the Southeastern Council of Foundations); and Jim Clark, President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Independent Sector, its board, staff, and members also thank retiring board members for their outstanding service to the organization: Jeffrey L. Bradach, outgoing Board Chair and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The Bridgespan Group; Antony Chiang, health equity nonprofit leader; Henry Timms, President and CEO of the Lincoln Center; and Terry Mazany, a philanthropy, financial and monetary, and education leader.
Following are the new board directors’ biographies:
Ann Mei Chang is the CEO of Candid and author of “Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good.” A leading expert on social innovation, Ann Mei previously served as the Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Mercy Corps, and Pete for America. As the first Executive Director of the U.S. Global Development Lab, she harnessed best practices for innovation to accelerate the impact and scale of solutions to the world’s most intractable challenges. Prior to her pivot to the public and social sector, Ann Mei was a seasoned technology executive, with more than 20 years of experience at leading companies, including Google, Apple, and Intuit, as well as at a range of startups. As Senior Engineering Director at Google, she led worldwide engineering for mobile applications and services, delivering 20 times growth to $1 billion in annual revenues in just three years.
Ann Mei earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Fellows’ class of 2011. She has been recognized as one of the “Women in the World: 125 Women of Impact” by Newsweek/The Daily Beast in 2013; “23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech” by Business Insider in 2019; and “20 Top LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs, Executives and Thought Leaders” by Global Shakers in 2019.
Dr. Manuel Pastor is Distinguished Professor of Sociology & American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California (USC). He directs the USC Equity Research Institute (formerly known as Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII). Pastor is the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC. He holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental, and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities.
Pastor’s most recent books covering those topics include “State of Resistance: What California’s Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America’s Future” (New Press 2018); and “Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America’s Metro Areas,” co-authored with Chris Benner (UC Press 2015). Pastor serves on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors and the California Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. He previously served on the California Strategic Growth Council, the Commission on Regions appointed by California’s Speaker of the State Assembly, and the Regional Targets Advisory Committee for the California Air Resources Board. In 2012, he received the Liberty Hill Foundation’s Wally Marks Changemaker of the Year award for social justice research partnership; and in 2017, he was awarded the Champion for Equity award from Advancement Project, California.
Dr. Eboo Patel is the Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a nonprofit organization working to make interfaith cooperation a social norm in America. He is a respected leader on national issues of religious diversity, civic engagement, and the intersection of racial equity and interfaith cooperation. He is the author of four books and dozens of articles and a frequent keynote speaker at colleges and universities, philanthropic convenings, and civic gatherings, both in person and virtually. He served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council.
Born in Mumbai, Eboo grew up as an Ismaili Muslim in the western suburbs of Chicago, experiencing bigotry, but also taking inspiration from friends and neighbors from diverse backgrounds. As a student at the University of Illinois, he was involved in social justice work and soon came to realize that the leaders he respected most, found their inspiration in faith. While earning a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship, Eboo began organizing interfaith projects around the world, laying the groundwork for what would become IFYC. Over two decades, he has led the organization from a handful of volunteers to a nationwide nonprofit that empowers students and educators on almost six hundred U.S. college and university campuses. IFYC is now a national nonprofit that equips the next generation of citizens and professionals with the knowledge and skills needed for leadership in a religiously diverse world.
Rev. Adam Russell Taylor is President of Sojourners and author of “Mobilizing Hope: Faith-Inspired Activism for a Post-Civil Rights Generation.” Taylor previously led the Faith Initiative at the World Bank Group and served as the Vice President in charge of Advocacy at World Vision U.S. and the Senior Political Director at Sojourners. He has served as the Executive Director of Global Justice, an organization that educates and mobilizes students around global human rights and economic justice. He was selected for the 2009-2010 class of White House Fellows and served in The White House Office of Cabinet Affairs and Public Engagement. Taylor is a graduate of Emory University, the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. Taylor also serves on the Global Advisory Board of Tearfund UK and is a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute Civil Society Fellowship. Taylor is ordained in the American Baptist Church and the Progressive National Baptist Convention and serves in ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.
Learn more at independent sector.org/board.
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