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A Letter from Atlantic’s Board Chair

Resource type: News

Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr. |

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As you may already know from the press release and letter released earlier today, Gara LaMarche has decided to step down as President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies, effective September 1, 2011. 

I wish to thank Gara for all the good things he has done in his tenure at Atlantic.  As I said in the press release, we selected Gara because of his unwavering commitment to elevating the voices of the disadvantaged and vulnerable to bring about major social change in their own lives and the lives of others.  Under Gara’s leadership, Atlantic has played an important role in health care reform to address the needs of kids, older adults, and the vulnerable and disadvantaged in the United States; defense of benefits for older adults in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; changes in HIV/AIDS and nursing policies in South Africa; and medical research and public health globally, among other notable achievements. These accomplishments would not have been possible without Gara’s dedication to the Foundation’s mission.

Atlantic’s Board is undertaking a search for a new chief executive to lead the organisation through the final chapter of grant making before concluding its work in 2016.  As the press release states, the expectation is that Atlantic’s historic core programme themes and existing geographic locations, together with Founding Chairman initiatives, will remain the basis for future grant making and operations. 

We will all work together to make the transition as smooth as possible for staff and the grantee organisations we support.

Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr.
Board Chair, The Atlantic Philanthropies

 

Related Content

> Learn more about The Atlantic Philanthropies and our mission.

> The Atlantic Philanthropies Announces President and CEO Gara LaMarche to Step Down.

> Letter from Gara LaMarche about his resignation. 

> Read our Currents column, “Brick by Brick: Investing in Capital Projects for Social Change.”

> Read more about our Board Chair, Frederick A.O. Schwartz, Jr.

For media inquiries please contact:
Ben Wyskida, 212-338-4064, b.wyskida [at] atlanticphilanthropies [dot] org 

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