Julie Rogers Announces Plans to Step Down in 2014

Julie L. Rogers, President & CEO of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, announced today that she plans to step down in June 2014 after leading the Foundation for nearly 28 years.

Ms. Rogers, who was appointed in 1986, is only the third chief executive in the Meyer Foundation’s 69-year history. During her tenure, the Foundation has made more than 6,000 grants totaling nearly $153 million to nonprofit organizations serving Washington, DC and the surrounding communities.

Ms. Rogers is perhaps best known for her work to promote wider recognition of the region’s nonprofit sector as a vital partner with business and government in meeting community needs, and for her commitment to supporting and sustaining visionary and effective nonprofit leaders.

In 1994, she led the creation of the Foundation’s Management Assistance Program, which provides funds to enable Meyer grantees to hire consultants to address management and leadership issues. And in 2006, she created the Foundation’s Exponent Awards, a program to recognize exemplary executive directors of Meyer grantees with grants to support leadership development and personal renewal. The Foundation has recognized 28 executive directors with the Exponent Award since 2006.

Throughout her tenure, Ms. Rogers has played a prominent leadership role in promoting effective collaboration in response to major community issues among the DC region’s grantmakers. Her major accomplishments include:

• Founding the Washington AIDS Partnership in 1988, which has since granted more than $22 million to support HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and advocacy throughout the region.
• Co-founding the Community Development Support Collaborative, through which 26 funders invested nearly $20 million in community development and affordable housing projects throughout the District of Columbia between 1993 and 2011.
• Co-founding the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers in 1992 to build connections and create a stronger collective voice for the region’s philanthropic community.

Ms. Rogers has held numerous board leadership positions with national and local philanthropic organizations, including the Council on Foundations, the Foundation Center, Venture Philanthropy Partners, and the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. She has also served on the boards of local civic organizations, including the Federal City Council, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and the Economic Club. She has been recognized by Washingtonian magazine and the Washington Business Journal as one of the region’s most influential civic leaders.

“During her long stewardship, Julie has had a remarkable impact on the Foundation and the community it serves,” says Meyer board chair Josh Bernstein. “We owe Julie a huge debt of gratitude for her years of strategic leadership and for working with the board and staff to create a strong institution that plays such a pivotal role in our community. We are grateful to have Julie’s leadership for another year while we prepare for this important transition.”

The Meyer Foundation’s board of directors will begin the search for the Foundation’s next president in the fall of 2013, with a goal of naming a new leader in the spring of 2014. The Foundation will provide periodic updates on the search process through its website and other communications channels.

“I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of outstanding nonprofit leaders making a difference for low-income people in our region,” says Ms. Rogers. “Meyer’s hallmark has always been to listen to these leaders and create programs that respond to their needs, strengthen organizations, and nurture the development of the nonprofit sector. It’s been my great privilege to work alongside talented board and staff members. Their vision and commitment are compassionate and fearless, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished together.”

Founded in 1944 by Washington Post publisher Eugene Meyer and his wife, author and social activist Agnes Ernst Meyer, the Meyer Foundation identifies and invests in visionary leaders and effective community-based nonprofit organizations that are working to create lasting improvements in the lives of low-income people in the Washington, DC metropolitan region, and works to strengthen the region’s nonprofit sector as a vital and respected partner in meeting community needs.

The Meyer Foundation is one of the oldest philanthropies that focuses its giving on nonprofits serving the Greater Washington region. In 2012, the Foundation awarded grants totaling more than $6 million across four program areas: Education, Healthy Communities, Economic Security, and a Strong Nonprofit Sector.