(Photo credit: Hudson-Webber Foundation)
The Trustees of the Hudson-Webber Foundation announced yesterday that Melanca Clark leave her role as president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation. She will remain with the Foundation while the Board engages in a search and leadership transition to ensure a smooth process. She is leaving the position to relocate to Boston with her family.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to work with our board, staff, and committed and dynamic partners to help move this incredible city forward,” said Clark. “We expanded our investments to the city’s neighborhoods and into new models of leadership and leaders, to help ensure that all residents benefit from the city’s growth and are shaping their own future. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this extraordinary journey.”
Clark joined the Foundation in August 2016 from Washington, D.C., where she served in a variety of roles in the Obama Administration, including at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as Chief of Staff of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS office) and the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
She leaves behind a legacy supported by signature accomplishments that have helped to cultivate and support strong community advocates, simultaneously strengthened the Hudson-Webber Foundation and facilitated greater national attention by foundations with respect to Detroit initiatives.
Clark upheld the grant-making organization’s longstanding pillars of giving – community and economic development, built environment, arts and culture and safe and just communities – and served as a trailblazer by leveraging her professional background to form collaborative partnerships with advocates, practitioners and public sector stakeholders to drive decision-making and strategy to help achieve desired outcomes at scale.
“While we are sad to see her go, the Board of Trustees will be forever grateful for Melanca’s inspirational leadership and stewardship of the Hudson-Webber Foundation. She is a lovely, gracious person and a friend to so many people throughout the metro Detroit region,” said Jennifer Hudson Parke, Board Chair. “When Melanca began her tenure, she launched a robust strategic planning process through a social justice and equity lens that has set the agenda for our organization for years to come.”
Under Clark’s leadership, the Foundation has contributed more than $40 million in grants to nonprofit organizations moving the city of Detroit forward.
Clark also serves as Chair of the Council of Michigan Foundations, Steering Committee Chair of the Michigan Justice Fund and on the boards of the Center for Employment Opportunities, BasBlue, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Michigan Futures, Inc., the Michigan Center for Youth Justice and the advisory board of LISC Detroit.
The Foundation Board of Trustees will select a firm to conduct a national candidate search.
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