SB Foundation names new president and CEO

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF REPORT

After a lengthy national search, the Santa Barbara Foundation has announced the selection of Ronald V. Gallo as its new president and CEO.
Gallo, previously the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, replaces longtime local nonprofit fixture Chuck Slosser, who is stepping down after 18 years at the helm of the Santa Barbara Foundation.

“I think the board selected an excellent person as the foundation’s next president and CEO,” Slosser said in a news release. “Ron Gallo is a seasoned community foundation executive who brings years of experience to his new position.”
Gallo will be responsible for managing one of the county’s largest private sources of funding for nonprofit groups — last year, the foundation awarded $26 million in loans or scholarships to local students and grants to local nonprofits.
Foundation officials said Gallo’s 15 years of experience at the Rhode Island Foundation, one of the nation’s largest community foundations, will greatly assist his transition to the new position.
“His lengthy experience in community foundation work and his reputation as an innovator will enable the foundation to continue to expand philanthropy in our county,” Robert Emmons, chair of the foundation’s board of trustees, said in the release. “The board of trustees is incredibly pleased that a candidate with such experience will be joining our foundation family.”
Gallo launched his career as a fundraiser for Marathon House in 1979, a residential drug rehabilitation group for teenagers and young adults.
In 1981, he took a position as executive director of the Rhode Island Council for Community Mental Health Centers and negotiated a $2.1 million increase in the state’s mental health budget.
Before joining the Rhode Island Foundation, Gallo served as the executive director of the Jesse Ball DuPont Fund for three years, a national foundation with an interest in issues affecting the South.
As the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, Gallo was instrumental in tripling its assets and launching an outreach plan that created alliances with other regional and national philanthropic organizations.
He also refocused the foundation to support low-income initiatives and health, poverty and educational efforts for impoverished youth. During his time with the organization, Gallo helped create Kids Count Rhode Island, a children’s advocacy group.
In addition to his leadership roles, he has also held several teaching positions. He lectured at Providence College and served as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, where he taught a graduate course on trends in organized philanthropy.
Gallo holds a master’s degree and doctorate in education from Harvard, a master’s degree from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College.