Vancouver Foundation appoints new President and CEO
July 24, 2013
– Gord MacDougall, Board Chair of Vancouver Foundation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin McCort as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Foundation
Vancouver, B.C. – Gord MacDougall, Board Chair of Vancouver Foundation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin McCort as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Foundation. McCort replaces retiring President Faye Wightman, and will formally assume the Foundation’s CEO role in mid-September.
McCort is a seasoned veteran in the not-for-profit sector. Before joining Vancouver Foundation, he served for six years as President and CEO of Care Canada in Ottawa, Canada’s leading development and humanitarian aid organization, programming $150 million annually in more than 30 countries.
He joined CARE Canada in 1992, serving for five years as a member of CARE’s emergency response unit, deployed extensively to the world’s hot spots, including Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda. He was the CARE country office director in Zambia from 1997-2000, where he worked with refugees and directed educational, agricultural, and urban development projects.
McCort has lived, worked, or visited more than 50 countries and has extensive knowledge about the politics, economics, and social issues of more than 30 countries where CARE Canada presently works
“The breadth of Kevin’s McCort’s professional experience in the not-for profit sector, his passion for social issues, and his commitment to collaborative partnerships align perfectly with Vancouver Foundation’s needs and values,” said Gord MacDougall. “Kevin brings the right mix of skills and experience to guide the vital work we do at the Foundation.”
For his part, McCort is delighted to be joining Vancouver Foundation. “Advancing community goals and aspirations is at the heart of Vancouver Foundation’s mandate. I’m excited about the prospect of working with a great team of staff, volunteers and donors to make a real, lasting difference at the community level in British Columbia.”
McCort is a sought-after expert on international and community development. He sits on the Boards of Imagine Canada and is the Chair of the Board of the Humanitarian Coalition, an organization he co-founded in 2005 with a vision of bringing together Canada’s leading aid agencies to finance relief efforts in times of international humanitarian crises. He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
McCort studied international development at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1989 with a B.Sc. (Specialist/Honours). In 2005, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University.
In February 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his leadership in promoting Canada’s values of tolerance and social justice across the world.
About Vancouver Foundation
With almost 1,500 funds and assets totaling $814 million, Vancouver Foundation is Canada’s largest community foundation. In 2012, Vancouver Foundation and its donors made more than 4,000 grants, totaling approximately $46 million to registered charities across Canada.
Since it was founded in 1943, Vancouver Foundation, in partnership with its donors, has distributed more than $917 million to thousands of community projects and programs. Grant recipients range from social services to medical research groups, to organizations devoted to arts and culture, the environment, education, children and families, disability supports for employment, youth issues and animal welfare.