Atlantic Philanthropies appoints new CEO
Howard Lake | 12 October 2011 | News
The Board of The Atlantic Philanthropies has announced the appointment of Christopher Oechsli as President and Chief Executive Officer.
Oechsli will work with the Board, including Atlantic’s founding Chairman, Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, to disburse the foundation’s remaining endowment of approximately $2.5 billion and complete active grantmaking by 2016 before closing its doors by 2020.
Oechsli will lead Atlantic’s grantmaking through its four programme areas and Founding Chairman grants in its existing areas.
Oechsli, 57, has over 30 years of experience in international business, law, philanthropy and policy development worldwide, including work in several of the regions where Atlantic operates. Most recently, he served as Associate Fellow and Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies, a multi-issue think tank based in Washington, D.C. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Counsel to U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, whom he advised on legislation and a range of domestic and international issues.
“As Atlantic enters its final chapter of grantmaking, we face the unprecedented challenge of determining the best possible use of the foundation’s remaining resources to maximise the impact of our grantmaking,” said Peter Smitham, Chairman of Atlantic’s Board of Directors.
“Chris Oechsli brings the vision, commitment, pragmatism and thoughtfulness required to lead Atlantic’s grantmaking, operations and investments until the foundation closes its doors.”
www.atlanticphilanthropies.org
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.