A New Leader at a Key Moment

I’m thrilled to introduce Philip Yun as Ploughshares Fund’s new Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer. Philip has the talent, the drive and the know-how to help lead Ploughshares Fund to new levels of achievement.

As many know, after fourteen years of outstanding leadership, our Executive Director Naila Bolus decided to leave this year to become the president of Jumpstart, an early education organization based in Boston. I joined Ploughshares Fund because of Naila. There is no one who could fill her shoes in exactly the same way. 

Philip brings a new style and a different skill set to our growing organization. Philip knows Ploughshares Fund. He has been a member of our board of directors for eight  years. Philip knows the issues. He is a recognized expert on national security and has broad experience in law, business and philanthropy, including serving as vice-president of The Asia Foundation. Philip knows government, having worked for many years as an official in the U.S. State Department. And Philip knows the media. He has and will continue to write and speak on these issues in journals and newspapers, television and radio. In short, Philip’s deep experience in government, business, law and academia will help Ploughshares Fund reach new audiences, develop new, creative philanthropic strategies and build a stronger organization. I look forward to partnering closely with Philip to develop and promote the vision, goals and voice of Ploughshares Fund in today’s dynamic policy environment. 

With the ratification of the New START treaty, a battle that we fought and won in the waning days of the lame duck session of December 2010, a whole new world of possibilities is opening in nuclear policy. We have innovated a new model – impact philanthropy – that allows us to leverage our grantmaking and policy efforts more than ever before. We have also embarked on three new dynamic campaigns that are already succeeding in shaping the policy and media landscape in Washington, DC. We are bringing our grantees together for concerted action around Iran’s nuclear program, cutting the nuclear weapon’s budget, and accelerating reductions in the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals. 

I’ve known Philip for years as a Ploughshares Fund board member and I’m excited to work side-by-side with him now for practical changes in nuclear policy and towards the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. I hope that many of you reading this get the chance to meet him soon. 

You can read his full bio at www.ploughshares.org/philipyun and an interview with him on our blog today. 

We can’t wait to get started.