March 11--Julia M. Stasch has been appointed president of the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
For the past eight months, Stasch has served as interim president of the institution.
"During a far reaching presidential search over the past eight months, we watched Julia rapidly changing the work and the point of view of the foundation," said MacArthur board chairman Marjorie Scardino in a statement. "We realized that she was already the president that we hoped to find. We wanted someone with a breadth of experience, who thinks big and has a bias for action, who has run a complex organization and can select and lead smart people. Julia has shown that she is that person."
During her tenure as interim president, Stasch and the foundation's staff launched the Safety and Justice Challenge, a $75 million project designed "to reduce over-incarceration by addressing the overuse and misuse of jails in America," according to the foundation. Stasch and her colleagues also "designed a soon-to-be-launched innovative effort to deliver useful capital for the social sector through the creation of market-making investment products and tools."
Before she became interim president, Stasch was vice president for MacArthur's U.S. Programs for 13 years.
What are Stasch's goals?
"Even as we support existing work and explore new areas, we also will seek public input into the design of a new competition that will offer $100 million for meaningful progress in solving a single important social problem," said Stasch in a statement.
For more information, visit macfound.org.
