Candid Names New CEO
Ann Mei Chang will lead Candid, which was the result of the Foundation Center and Guidestar merger in 2019. Chang, an expert on social innovation with global experience in the private, public and nonprofit sectors will become CEO, effective Oct. 4.
Her role will overlap with current leader Bradford K. Smith through the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.
The nonprofit with more than 200 employees, including one of the largest teams of data scientists and programmers in the social sector, provides information needed to address society’s critical challenges. Chang will lead Candid in harnessing the precision of data, the power of technology and the compassion of the social sector to increase the collective ability to do good.
“Ann Mei is a strategist, problem-solver, and collaborator who is ideally suited to lead Candid in achieving its ambitious 2030 vision,” T. Sylvester John, chair of Candid’s board of trustees and head of the search committee, said in a statement. “Her extraordinary success in the tech industry and international development, passion for Candid’s mission and focus on what matters in people’s lives made her the unanimous choice for the role. We are delighted to have Ann Mei guide us as we live our values of being driven, direct, accessible, curious and inclusive.”
The author of "Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good," Chang served as chief innovation officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the first executive director of its U.S. Global Development Lab. In addition, she was chief innovation officer for Pete for America, chief innovation officer at Mercy Corps, and senior advisor for women and technology at the U.S. Department of State.
Prior to her work in the public and social sectors, Chang was a seasoned technology executive, with more than 20 years of experience at Google, Apple and Intuit, as well as at various startups. As senior engineering director at Google, she led worldwide engineering for mobile applications and services, with a mission to bring the next billion people online. She earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Stanford University and is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Fellows class of 2011.
Chang has been recognized as one of the “Women in the World: 125 Women of Impact” by Newsweek/The Daily Beast in 2013, “23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech” by Business Insider in 2019 and “20 Top LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurs, Executives and Thought Leaders” by Global Shakers in 2019.
“Candid plays such an important role as the information infrastructure that supports mission-driven work in the U.S. and around the world. I am thrilled by the opportunity to lead an organization I admire deeply,” Chang said in a statement. “I look forward to listening to and learning about the needs of Candid’s constituents to help increase the organization’s scale and impact.”
