20 Nonprofit CEOs Across North America Worth Knowing

Jonno White
Aug 12
11 min read

*Last updated: August 2026.*

Nonprofit leaders work at the point where a public mission meets real human need. They make decisions about trust, money, people, partnerships and long-term impact, often while demand is moving faster than capacity. That is why the chief executive role at a large charity is more than a job title. It is a daily practice of turning purpose into choices that staff, volunteers, donors and communities can understand.

This list brings together 20 nonprofit CEOs leading large charities and public-interest organisations across North America. It includes leaders in the United States and Canada, as well as organisations whose work crosses borders. The list is a recognition directory, not a ranking, and each person offers a different view of what it takes to turn a public mission into practical work.

The group spans international development, health, education, food security, public media, environmental work and community services. Their contexts differ, but the leadership challenge is familiar: help people see what matters, make the next decision clearer and keep the work connected to the people it is meant to serve.

Why nonprofit CEO leadership matters

A large charity is an ecosystem. It may include employees, volunteers, donors, community partners, government relationships, service users and a board with its own responsibilities. The CEO has to hold those parts together without losing sight of the human reason the organisation exists.

That work is practical rather than motivational: something people can use on Monday morning, not a feeling that fades by Friday. Clear priorities, honest communication and dependable follow-through help a mission survive the pressure of urgent work.

The people below work in very different settings, but their roles show a common pattern. Strong nonprofit leadership helps people understand the purpose, see how their contribution matters and make good decisions when the answer is not obvious.

1. Denis McDonough

President and CEO, Feeding America

Denis McDonough serves as President and CEO at Feeding America. Feeding America’s Spring 2026 Impact Report identifies McDonough as the organisation’s new CEO and dates his start to April 14, 2026. Taking on a national hunger-relief network means joining a system that depends on local food banks, volunteers, donors and public partners. That makes the handover itself a leadership task: continuity has to be visible while new priorities are introduced.

His example is a useful reminder that a mission becomes credible when people can see how the chief executive role connects strategy with the practical work happening in communities.

2. Kirstin Beardsley

Chief Executive Officer, Food Banks Canada

Kirstin Beardsley serves as Chief Executive Officer at Food Banks Canada. Food Banks Canada lists Beardsley as Chief Executive Officer on its national leadership page. Food security work depends on more than a single service or campaign. It asks leaders to connect national advocacy, local relationships and the dignity of people seeking help.

For nonprofit leaders, that is a practical lesson in holding a clear public purpose while making room for the different realities of communities across a country.

3. Conrad Sauvé

President and CEO, Canadian Red Cross

Conrad Sauvé serves as President and CEO at Canadian Red Cross. The Canadian Red Cross lists Sauvé as President and CEO on its executive leadership team page. A humanitarian organisation has to be ready for both planned community work and sudden emergencies. The chief executive role therefore calls for calm coordination across volunteers, staff, partners and public agencies.

Sauvé’s place on this list reflects the leadership discipline required when the mission is immediate, practical and often shaped by events no organisation can fully control.

4. Dan Clement

President and CEO, United Way Centraide Canada

Dan Clement serves as President and CEO at United Way Centraide Canada. United Way Centraide Canada says Clement serves as President and CEO and Secretary of the Board, with more than 20 years in the movement. United Way work is built through local relationships, so leadership cannot be separated from trust between communities, funders and partner organisations. Clement’s long experience in the movement gives that role a useful sense of continuity.

It is a reminder that durable nonprofit leadership is often less about a single grand initiative and more about helping a network keep working together.

5. Steven Preston

President and CEO, Goodwill Industries International

Steven Preston serves as President and CEO at Goodwill Industries International. Goodwill Industries International identifies Preston as President and CEO and describes the network as 150 local Goodwills in the United States and Canada. Leading a network of local organisations creates a distinctive challenge: shared purpose has to coexist with local knowledge and local accountability. The scale only works when the centre helps the network learn without trying to flatten every difference.

Preston’s role is a useful case study in federated leadership, especially for organisations that need consistency and flexibility at the same time.

6. Janti Soeripto

President and CEO, Save the Children US

Janti Soeripto serves as President and CEO at Save the Children US. Save the Children US identifies Soeripto as President and CEO and notes that she assumed the role in 2020 after serving as deputy CEO. Child-focused organisations work across urgent needs, long-term development and partnerships that cross borders. A leader in that setting must keep the human purpose clear while navigating a large and varied operating environment.

Soeripto’s progression from deputy CEO to CEO also shows the value of leadership continuity in a mission where trust and institutional knowledge matter.

7. Carter Roberts

President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund US

Carter Roberts serves as President and CEO at World Wildlife Fund US. WWF US identifies Roberts as President and CEO and describes the organisation as part of a global network working in 100 countries. Environmental leadership asks people to connect distant systems with decisions made close to home. Conservation, supply chains, communities and policy all meet in the work of a large organisation.

Roberts represents the kind of leadership that makes a complex public mission easier to understand, because the work can be connected back to the places and choices people recognise.

8. Jennifer Morris

Chief Executive Officer, The Nature Conservancy

Jennifer Morris serves as Chief Executive Officer at The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy says Morris leads nearly 6,000 staff working across more than 80 countries. A global conservation organisation needs a leadership model that can work across countries while respecting local expertise. The scale of the team makes clarity, delegation and shared standards especially important.

Morris’s role highlights how a CEO can help a large mission stay coherent without pretending every community faces the same problem.

9. Michelle Nunn

President and CEO, CARE

Michelle Nunn serves as President and CEO at CARE. CARE says Nunn leads more than 7,000 staff working in more than 100 countries and reaching nearly 60 million people. International development leadership involves many partners, cultures and forms of expertise. The challenge is to keep the organisation accountable to the people it serves while coordinating work across a wide footprint.

Nunn’s role shows why nonprofit leaders need both a strong mission story and the humility to let local knowledge shape the work.

10. Kerry Robinson

President and CEO, Catholic Charities USA

Kerry Robinson serves as President and CEO at Catholic Charities USA. Catholic Charities USA introduced Robinson as its President and CEO, noting that she is the second woman and second layperson to lead the organisation. A national network of social-service organisations needs leaders who can hold together faith, community partnership and practical support for people facing hardship. That work asks for both moral clarity and operational care.

Robinson’s appointment is also a visible example of how leadership succession can broaden the story an organisation tells about who can carry its mission forward.

11. Nancy Brown

Chief Executive Officer, American Heart Association

Nancy Brown serves as Chief Executive Officer at American Heart Association. The American Heart Association identifies Brown as Chief Executive Officer and describes a network of volunteers, supporters and staff working across the world. Health charities often translate specialist knowledge into choices that communities can use. That makes the CEO role partly about alignment: volunteers, researchers, clinicians, advocates and donors all need to see how their work connects.

Brown’s leadership sits at that intersection of public health, science and community action, a combination that is relevant well beyond healthcare.

12. Shane Jacobson

Chief Executive Officer, American Cancer Society

Shane Jacobson serves as Chief Executive Officer at American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society identifies Jacobson as CEO of both the American Cancer Society and its Cancer Action Network. Cancer leadership spans research, patient support, public education and advocacy. Holding those strands together requires a clear understanding of what the organisation can do directly and where progress depends on wider systems.

Jacobson’s dual role illustrates how nonprofit CEOs can help connect service delivery with the policy conditions that make better outcomes possible.

13. Cindy Rahman

President and CEO, March of Dimes

Cindy Rahman serves as President and CEO at March of Dimes. March of Dimes lists Rahman as President and CEO on its leadership page. An organisation focused on mothers and babies has to lead across health information, prevention, research and community support. The work is personal for families but also shaped by systems and access.

Rahman’s role is a reminder that a clear nonprofit mission still needs careful choices about where the organisation can make the greatest practical difference.

14. Harold Wimmer

President and CEO, American Lung Association

Harold Wimmer serves as President and CEO at American Lung Association. The American Lung Association identifies Wimmer as President and CEO on its executive leadership team page. Lung health depends on behaviour, clinical care, environmental conditions and public policy. Leading in that space means making a complex issue easier for different audiences to act on.

Wimmer’s work shows the value of a CEO who can help science, advocacy and everyday public communication reinforce one another.

15. Michael Nyenhuis

President and CEO, UNICEF USA

Michael Nyenhuis serves as President and CEO at UNICEF USA. UNICEF USA identifies Nyenhuis as President and CEO and notes his more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience. Child-focused international work depends on trust, public understanding and reliable support across borders. The CEO has to make a global mission feel both urgent and concrete to people who may be far from the communities being served.

Nyenhuis’s experience is relevant to leaders who need to turn a large international purpose into a message and a plan people can understand.

16. Edgar Sandoval

President and CEO, World Vision US

Edgar Sandoval serves as President and CEO at World Vision US. World Vision US identifies Sandoval as President and CEO and describes the organisation’s work in nearly 100 countries. Large international charities work through partnerships, local teams and long-term relationships. Leadership therefore includes the discipline to keep the mission visible while allowing the work to be shaped by local context.

Sandoval’s role highlights the importance of connecting a broad public promise with the practical decisions made by teams in many different places.

17. Alexis McGill Johnson

President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Alexis McGill Johnson serves as President and CEO at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Planned Parenthood identifies McGill Johnson as President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Health and rights organisations often work in contested public conversations, which makes clarity and steadiness important leadership skills. The work still has to be translated into accessible care, support and information.

McGill Johnson’s role reflects the need for a CEO to keep the organisation’s values clear while leading people through a complex external environment.

18. Paula Kerger

President and CEO, PBS

Paula Kerger serves as President and CEO at PBS. PBS identifies Kerger as President and CEO and says she leads a public media system of more than 330 member stations. Public media depends on a network model, with a national purpose carried through local stations and local audiences. That makes shared standards and local relevance equally important.

Kerger’s role is a useful example of how nonprofit leadership can strengthen a distributed system by making the common mission easier to see and use.

19. Maryana Iskander

Chief Executive Officer, Wikimedia Foundation

Maryana Iskander serves as Chief Executive Officer at Wikimedia Foundation. The Wikimedia Foundation appointed Iskander as CEO to lead the nonprofit that supports Wikipedia and other free-knowledge projects. Free knowledge is a public mission built on technology, volunteers, communities and shared rules. Leadership in that environment requires care with both participation and stewardship.

Iskander’s work is relevant to any CEO leading a mission where the organisation’s impact depends on people contributing, trusting the system and seeing a place for themselves in it.

20. James Downing

President and CEO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

James Downing serves as President and CEO at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital identifies Downing as President and Chief Executive Officer. A paediatric research hospital brings together science, clinical care, families and philanthropy. Its leadership challenge is to protect the quality of each part while keeping the whole organisation focused on children and their families.

Downing’s role shows how nonprofit CEOs can create alignment across specialist teams when the mission is both deeply human and technically demanding.

What these nonprofit CEOs can teach us about leadership

Across these organisations, the strongest thread is translation. Leaders take a purpose that can sound broad or abstract and turn it into priorities, relationships and decisions that people can understand.

A second thread is stewardship. Whether the work is delivered through local food banks, member stations, volunteers, researchers or international partners, the CEO is responsible for helping the wider system work well, not simply for being the most visible person in it.

That is useful for leaders in any sector. The question is not only whether people know the mission, but whether the mission helps them decide what to do next.

How to use this list

Use the list as a starting point for learning, not as a scorecard. Read about the organisations, notice the different leadership contexts and ask which parts of the work are most relevant to your own team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a nonprofit CEO do?

A nonprofit CEO helps turn the organisation’s purpose into strategy, priorities, relationships and daily decisions. The role usually includes working with the board, supporting staff, building trust with partners and staying accountable to the people the organisation serves.

Are these the best nonprofit CEOs in North America?

No. This is a recognition directory, not a ranking. It brings together a varied group of current nonprofit CEOs whose roles offer useful context for anyone interested in mission-led leadership.

Why are both US and Canadian leaders included?

North America includes both countries, and many large charities work across borders or through networks that connect local and international activity. Including both gives readers a broader view of the leadership challenges nonprofit organisations face.

What can leaders learn from large charities?

They can learn how to make purpose practical, how to lead through complexity and how to keep a broad group of people connected to a shared outcome. The lessons apply to schools, businesses, associations and community organisations as well as charities.

Conclusion

Nonprofit CEOs lead through complexity, but complexity does not have to mean confusion. The people in this list show different ways to keep purpose visible while working with boards, teams, volunteers, donors, communities and partners.

Their work also shows that leadership is often a form of translation. A CEO helps people understand what matters, why a choice has been made and how their own contribution fits into the larger mission.

For leaders building organisations people would move cities to work at, those are useful questions in any sector. What is the mission asking people to do this week? What would make the next decision clearer? What would help the people doing the work feel trusted and supported?

About the Author

Jonno White is the author of Step Up or Step Out and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator. He is Brisbane-based and works with schools, organisations and leadership teams around the world. The Working Genius framework was created by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group.

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