Media Contact: Grace Nicolette, Vice President, Programming and External Relations | gracen@cep.org
Jesús Gerena
Taryn Higashi
LaTida Smith
Cambridge, MA — The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) welcomes three new members to its Board of Directors: Executive Director of Unbound Philanthropy Taryn Higashi, CEO of UpTogether Jesús Gerena, and President of the Winston-Salem Foundation LaTida Smith. Each will begin three-year terms on the CEP Board as of January 1, 2023.
Higashi has worked with Unbound Philanthropy since 2008, when she joined the organization as the first staff member. During her time there, she has helped the organization become a significant actor contributing to creating pluralistic, just, and equitable societies in the U.S. and the U.K. that recognize the rights and contributions of immigrants and refugees. Prior to Unbound, Taryn managed the migrant and refugee rights portfolio and was deputy director of the human rights unit at the Ford Foundation.
Since 2010, Gerena has worked with UpTogether (Previously Family Independence Initiative), an organization working to change policies, systems, and underlying beliefs so that all people in the United States are seen and invested in for their strengths and are able to build power, reinforce their autonomy, and drive their own economic and social mobility. Under Jesús’ leadership, UpTogether has quadrupled its revenue, doubled in staff, and expanded its work to all 50 states. Recently, the Schwab Foundation named him a 2020 Social Innovator of the Year.
Prior to being named president of the Winston-Salem Foundation, a more than 100-year-old community foundation, Smith served as the first permanent president of the Moses Taylor Foundation. There, she had the opportunity to build the $90-million health legacy foundation’s grantmaking strategy and define its role in improving the health of a largely rural 11-county region in northeast Pennsylvania.
“These three new board members bring tremendous experience and insight about philanthropy to our Board of Directors, and we are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to gain from their wisdom in the years ahead,” said CEP President Phil Buchanan.
Higashi, Gerena, and Smith join a board that, as of January 1, 2023, will include: Chair Tiffany Cooper Gueye (former COO, Blue Meridian Partners, Inc.), Paul Beaudet (Executive Director, Wilburforce Foundation), Phil Buchanan (ex officio, President, CEP), Stephanie Hull (CEO, Girls Inc), Richard Ober (President and CEO, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation), Hilary Pennington (Executive Vice President for Program, Ford Foundation), Anthony Richardson (President of the George Gund Foundation), Kelvin Taketa (former President and CEO, Hawai’i Community Foundation), and Fay Twersky (President and Director, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation).
About the Center for Effective Philanthropy
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide data, feedback, programs, and insights to help individual and institutional donors improve their effectiveness. We do this work because we believe effective donors, working collaboratively and thoughtfully, can profoundly contribute to creating a better and more just world. For more information on CEP’s work, including its research, assessments, advisory services, and programming, visit www.cep.org.
