Organization Praises Aviv’s 12 Years Leading the Organization and Significant Contributions to its Success and Strength, Reaffirms Commitment to Advancing the Common Good
(WASHINGTON, JUNE 30, 2015) — Independent Sector thanked Diana Aviv today for 12 years of hard and invaluable work following her decision to step down as the organization’s CEO effective October 1, 2015. The organization’s leadership thanked Aviv for her many contributions and for helping Independent Sector achieve a position of strength and for making a lasting difference to the communities and causes it serves. As part of today’s announcement, Independent Sector also reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of the comprehensive “re-founding” effort that began under Aviv’s leadership and is designed to enable the organization to meet the challenges of the future.
“While we are sorry to see Diana move on, we thank her for her years of service here and for all of her contributions to Independent Sector,” said Neil Nicoll, chair of the board of directors of Independent Sector. “Thanks in large part to Diana’s leadership, the charitable sector in this country is stronger and more influential – and Independent Sector is well-positioned for the future. Today, we express our appreciation to Diana for bringing us to this point and wish her great success at Feeding America.”
Under Diana’s leadership, Independent Sector has become the ‘go-to’ organization for public officials, media and others seeking to understand the policies and positions of the charitable community. She stabilized and strengthened the organization’s finances, membership, and brought together the leaders of our philanthropic and charitable sector to tackle some of the most difficult challenges facing our community.
Independent Sector announced the formation of a search committee for its new President and CEO. The committee will be led by Steve McCormick, former President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, former CEO of The Nature Conservancy, and current CEO of the Earth Genome.
In December 2013, Diana initiated a comprehensive strategic effort at Independent Sector to better enable the organization and the charitable sector as a whole to effectively address social issues in a rapidly changing, increasingly complex future. The process has engaged widespread participation through a series of workshops held throughout the country. As part of this effort, Independent Sector is committed to:
- Continuing as the “vital meeting ground” for the sector, finding new ways to connect an increasingly diverse set of players while building new bridges that connect its efforts to advance the common good with those of government, business, and individuals;
- Building deeper insight and foresight within the sector, creating and curating knowledge that enables and empowers the sector to solve the toughest challenges it faces; and
- Advocating for public policies that ensure the vitality of the sector and deliver the tools and programming organizations need to increase their operational effectiveness and integrity.
“We’re calling this our ‘re-founding’ and we couldn’t be prouder of the progress we’ve made on this effort to date,” Nicoll continued. “We have a lot of work to do to meet these goals but our committed board of directors and talented, hard-working staff are continuing to lead the efforts to achieve them.”
