October 20, 2011

The Surdna Foundation announced Judilee Reed as the new Director of its Thriving Cultures Program.  Ms. Reed will join the Foundation in mid-November, and succeeds Ellen B. Rudolph who served the Foundation for nearly 18 years.  Ms. Rudolph will continue to work on several projects for the Thriving Cultures Program.

As the Executive Director of Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), Ms. Reed established and led successful projects focusing on building the capacity of community-centered arts organizations, improving artists' access to information about America's changing health care policies, generating awareness of the increasingly diverse demographics of communities around the country. Ms. Reed holds a B.A. in art history and a B.F.A. in painting from the University of New Hampshire, and alumni status at Harvard Business School.

Ms. Reed will take over leadership of Surdna's Thriving Cultures Program at an auspicious time as the focus has been expanded over the past year to include: Artists Engaging in Social Change, an effort to strengthen the capacity of artists and cultural organizations to engage in social change efforts; and Community Driven Design, through which disadvantaged cultural groups have a voice in the design planning of public places.  The Thriving Cultures Program will continue its support for Teens' Artistic Advancement.

Phillip Henderson, Surdna's President, said, "We are thrilled to have Judilee joining the Surdna team.  She brings exceptional creative vision and programming experience, and her broad knowledge of community-building will add to the Foundation's cross-program and collaborative style of work.  Judilee has always been committed to the power of art in communities and shares Surdna's view of the importance of equity."  Additional information is available from the Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) Website.

Related to this announcement, Lynn Stern was promoted to Senior Program Officer of the Thriving Cultures Program.  Stern has served as program officer of Surdna's Thriving Cultures (formerly Arts) Program for 5 years, playing a central role in the development of new lines of work; in particular she led the development of Artists Engaging in Social Change.  Stern has also provided leadership to Surdna's New Orleans Fund initiative.  Prior to joining the Surdna Foundation, Lynn worked as an independent consultant to philanthropic organizations and nonprofit groups, and served as project specialist to the Ford Foundation's Media, Arts and Culture unit.

About the Surdna Foundation

The Surdna Foundation - one of the nation's oldest family foundations - was established in 1917 by John E. Andrus, and is governed today by fourth and fifth generation Andrus family members.  Surdna seeks to foster just and sustainable communities in the United States-communities guided by principles of social justice and distinguished by healthy environments, strong local economies, and thriving cultures.  With assets of approximately $850 million, Surdna awards more than $38 million in grants annually to hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the United States.