Media Contact: Grace Nicolette, Vice President, Programming and External Relations: 617-492-0800 x236
Cambridge, MA — The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) has elected Oak Foundation President Kathleen Cravero and former Hawai’i Community Foundation President and CEO Kelvin Taketa to join its Board of Directors. Both will begin serving three-year terms beginning January 1, 2018.
“Kathleen and Kelvin bring unique perspectives and a wealth of experience to the CEP Board,” said CEP President Phil Buchanan. “Kathleen’s leadership of an international family foundation and Kelvin’s experience as an innovative community foundation leader will complement the wealth of experience already around the CEP board table.”
Cravero has served as president of Oak Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, since 2009, where she leads the foundation’s work addressing issues of global, social, and environmental concern, particularly those that have an impact on the lives of the disadvantaged. Prior to joining the foundation, Cravero worked in international development for more than two decades in roles at UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations, including as part of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Advancing gender equality has been a focus of her work, and her past positions have included stations in Burundi, Uganda, and Chad. Cravero holds a Ph.D. in political science from Fordham University and a masters in public health from Columbia University.
“Oak Foundation has benefitted greatly from the research and support of the Center for Effective Philanthropy,” said Cravero. “It is great to have a chance to give back and to bring the perspective of a European-based family foundation to CEP’s work. I look forward to this opportunity.”
Taketa is senior fellow at the Hawai’i Community Foundation, the state’s largest foundation. He served as the foundation’s president and CEO from 1998 until he stepped down earlier this year. Under his leadership, the foundation more than tripled the amount of funds it distributed in the state. A native of Hawai’i, Taketa has spent his entire career in the nonprofit sector including senior leadership positions with the Nature Conservancy in Hawai’i, at its headquarters in Virginia, and founding its work in the Asia Pacific Region. He has also served on a number of nonprofit boards, including those of Encore, Sustainable Conservation, Independent Sector, Stupski Foundation, and Feeding America, as well as serving in private sector capacities as the founder of a private equity company and on the board of Hawaiian Electrical Industries. He is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a J.D. from the University of California’s Hastings College of Law.
“I have been a big fan of the work of CEP for years and have relied heavily on their insights and tools to help our foundation innovate and improve,” said Taketa. “I am deeply honored to be asked to join the board comprised of such outstanding and thoughtful leaders in the field.”
Cravero and Taketa join a Board of Directors that includes: Chair Grant Oliphant (President, the Heinz Endowments), Paul Beaudet (Executive Director, Wilburforce Foundation), Phil Buchanan (ex officio, President, CEP), Tiffany Cooper Gueye (Former CEO, BELL, Building Educated Leaders for Life), Richard Ober (President and CEO, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation), Hilary Pennington (Vice President, Education, Free Expression, and Creativity, Ford Foundation), Christy Pichel (Former President, Stuart Foundation), Vince Stehle (Executive Director, Media Impact Funders), Fay Twersky (Director of the Effective Philanthropy Group, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation), and Lynn Perry Wooten (J. Nolan Dean and Professor of Management and Organizations, Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management).
About the Center for Effective Philanthropy
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness and impact. CEP received initial funding in 2001 and has offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. For more information on CEP’s work, including its research, programming, and assessment and advisory services, see www.cep.org.
