The Council is delighted to announce the appointment of 12 philanthropy leaders to serve on a new Independent Foundation Task Force. This distinguished group will work with the Independent Foundations Services staff team to give the Council’s independent foundation members high-quality, timely, and relevant resources for program excellence in their philanthropy. In addition, the advisory group will offer general feedback to Council staff on issues of importance to philanthropy. Send your feedback and suggestions to the Independent Services staff and task force to independent@cof.org.

The members of the task force are:

• E. Thomas Brewer, director of programs, May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust
• Sharon Burns, former chief information officer, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• Antony Chiang, president and CEO, Empire Health Foundation
• Eugene W. Cochrane, president, The Duke Endowment
• Mary Lynn Huntley, chair for the trustees, Jessie Ball duPont Fund
• Kenneth Jones, vice president for finance and administration, The Annie E. Casey Foundation (vice chair)
• Lawrence Kutner, executive director, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
• Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO, Lumina Foundation
• Susan Promislo, senior communications officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Julie Rogers, president, Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation (chair)
• Elizabeth Smith, executive director, The Hyams Foundation
• Lyn Wallin Ziegenbein, executive director, Peter Kiewit Foundation

As with all Council committees, we sought diversity among the group’s members to ensure that a range of perspectives, opinions, and experiences is recognized and acted upon in achieving the Council’s mission. The foundations represented on the advisory group encompass a variety of geographic regions, assets, and giving sizes. We value diversity in its many forms, including expertise, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, economic circumstance, disability, and philosophy.