The Ford Family Foundation has selected Anne Kubisch as the new President and CEO, effective May 15, 2013. Anne will succeed Norm Smith, who will retire May 31, 2013.
Anne comes to the Foundation after 19 years at The Aspen Institute in New York, an international non-profit leadership development and policy studies organization. She founded and served as director of the Aspen Roundtable on Community Change, a national resource center that gleans lessons on how to improve outcomes for low-income children, families and neighborhoods, and advises policymakers, funders and practitioners on strategies for promoting vibrant and equitable communities.
Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors Ron Parker said, “Our Board is very pleased to find from a national search a person of Anne’s character and experience in philanthropy. We are delighted that she looks forward to moving to Roseburg and leading the Foundation.”
Parker said, “We knew it would be a challenge to find the right successor to Norm Smith, who was our first employee and the Foundation’s capable CEO since 1997.”
Smith advised the Board last spring of his plan to retire in a year, once a successor was recruited. “I am so impressed with Anne Kubisch and her preparation to lead this foundation into the future,” Smith said. “My wife, Kathy, and I welcome Anne, Mark and their family to the beautiful ‘Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua.’”
Anne, her husband Mark Montgomery, and their two teenage children, Marina and Nicholas, will move to Roseburg.
Parker said, “Anne brings a deep understanding of the challenges faced by rural communities and how our foundation can assist them. She has a strong desire to come to Roseburg and embrace the lifestyle a rural community can provide. We also saw in her the passion to carry on the work of the Foundation and build the legacy of Kenneth and Hallie Ford.”
“The Ford Family Foundation has made such an impressive contribution to child, family and community development in Oregon,” said Kubisch. “I am looking forward to combining my national perspective on what promotes community success with the on-the-ground experience and expertise of the Foundation’s staff, grantees and partners. It’s my chance to really go deep in one place on the issues that I have been passionate about for my whole life.”
