Volume 4, Issue 6
June 17, 2008
SPECIAL EDITION

Dear Friends,

We are both sad and proud to announce that our colleague, James F. O’Sullivan, MPH, will be leaving the Foundation at the end of July to pursue new opportunities in philanthropy. While his departure will come all too soon, we have developed plans for other Foundation staff to assume Jim’s responsibilities, and we are committed to minimizing any disruption of our joint work to improve the health of older adults.

Jim will be joining Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors as director of foundation services. At Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, he will lead a team of six people, including four philanthropic advisors, providing consultation and management for up to 75 private philanthropy clients annually both in the U.S. and abroad.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors provides research and advice on charitable giving, develops philanthropy programs, and offers program, administrative, and management services for foundations and trusts. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors currently serves more than 150 clients, facilitating more than $200 million in annual gifts/grants in more than 50 countries.

Jim has made an important contribution to the Foundation since his arrival as grants manager in 1998. In that important role, he helped us improve the efficiency of our grantmaking and monitoring. Since 2003 he has served as program officer and senior program officer supporting the social work initiative and many of our other key grants. These include the Beeson program, the leadership training program in geriatric medicine, and our communications work.

Please rest assured that the staff and Trustees of the Foundation remain entirely committed to the projects that Jim has developed and to his vision for improved care for older adults through increased geriatric capacity in social work. While we search for Jim’s successor on our program team, Rachael Watman, MSW, will add our social work grants to her responsibilities. Gavin Hougham, PhD, will assume responsibility for Jim’s portfolio of physician-focused grants.

During the next few weeks, each grant leader will receive an individualized e-mail from Jim specifying the new Foundation staff person principally responsible for his or her grant. However, if you have any questions or concerns about this transition, please feel free to speak directly to Chris Langston, our program director, or to me. We know that staff changes can be confusing and even distracting. We will do our very best to communicate clearly and frequently about this process.

Sincerely,

Corinne Rieder, EdD
Executive Director