MONTREAL, Sept. 25, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC) announced today that after more than 17 years as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hilary Pearson plans to leave the organization in 2019. She will continue as CEO in the coming months as the Board works to identify a replacement.
"Leading this association has been enormously rewarding for me both professionally and personally," said Pearson. "I have been fortunate to meet and work with many of the most thoughtful and innovative philanthropic organizations and leaders in this country and will remain fully engaged with our effective and hard-working team at PFC until the transition is successfully completed in 2019."
The Board has appointed a special committee to recruit Pearson's successor. The committee has engaged KCI to lead the executive search beginning this month.
"I would like to thank Hilary for her tremendous leadership and commitment to PFC over almost two decades," said Allan Northcott, Board Chair, Philanthropic Foundations Canada. "Some of the many achievements of the association under her leadership include: growing a pan-Canadian membership of more than 135 grantmakers, creating connections and collaborations with many more, and the building of tools and relationships that contribute to philanthropic practice with meaningful impact in Canada and beyond."
"We look forward to working with KCI in the coming months to identify a new CEO that will build on these successes and continue to act as a catalyst to raise awareness of the important role of organized philanthropy in Canada," added Northcott.
Hilary Pearson Biography
Hilary Pearson is President of Philanthropic Foundations Canada, a national network of family, independent and corporate grantmakers in Canada which includes many of the largest private charitable foundations in the country. Since 2001, when she was appointed President, she has grown the organization to become a leading voice in Canadian organized philanthropy.
Prior to joining PFC, Ms Pearson held senior positions in central agencies of the Government of Canada from 1981 to 1993. She was Vice-President at Royal Bank of Canada from 1993 to 1996 and a senior strategy consultant at the Montreal consulting firm Secor from 1993 to 2001. An expert in nonprofit governance, Ms. Pearson has served on several national boards of directors, including those of Pearson College of the Pacific, Imagine Canada, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada, CARE Canada and Indspire. She chairs the Advisory Body of the Coady Institute at St Francis Xavier University and is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Masters Program in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Carleton University. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Toronto, and honourary doctorates from Carleton University and the University of New Brunswick.
She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018.
About Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC)
We are a member association of over 130 Canadian grantmakers, including private and public foundations, charities and corporations. We support our members and organized philanthropy by encouraging public policies that sustain the sector, by increasing awareness of philanthropy's contribution to the well-being of Canadians and by providing opportunities for funders to learn from each other.
A bio and photo are available on the PFC website.
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SOURCE Philanthropic Foundations Canada
Jennifer-Lee Thomas, Director of Communications, (514) 866-5446 x 2 ([email protected])
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