Gates staffer Victoria Vrana departs for top spot at GlobalGiving

Victoria Vrana, an 11-year veteran of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a leader of its “everyday giving” initiatives, will soon become the next CEO of GlobalGiving.

GlobalGiving is a nonprofit organization that connects other nonprofits to potential donors and corporate partners. Since starting in 2002, GlobalGiving has raised more than $764 million for thousands of projects in more than 175 countries. It has received funding from the Gates Foundation, including a $10,000 grant in 2020.

Longtime GlobalGiving staffer Donna Callejon has been interim CEO since last December, when former GlobalGiving CEO Alix Guerrier stepped down. Vrana will take over the post permanently in January.

Vrana is currently deputy director of two Gates initiatives to help nonprofits fundraise. The first, Giving Ecosystem, focuses on developing policy and regulatory incentives for giving, along with data and insights to help donors make decisions. The second, Giving by All, encourages “everyday givers,” which is focused on non-wealthy people. Prior to that, she held senior positions on the foundation’s philanthropic partnership and charitable sector support teams.

A Gates Foundation spokesperson told Devex the organization is “excited” for Vrana to embark on this “amazing” opportunity at GlobalGiving, but also “we’re very sad that she’s leaving because she’s been a great part of the team.”

The foundation is in the “early phases” of launching a search for her replacement, the spokesperson said.

Vrana frequently collaborated with GlobalGiving while at the Gates Foundation. She helped develop GlobalGiving’s free social sector resource library as well as an ethical decision-making framework in an effort to encourage more people to make giving part of their lives.

“I am honored and humbled that the GlobalGiving team has put its trust in me,” Vrana said in a statement.

“I am inspired by how it enables donors of all kinds to support local changemakers on the front lines of our world's toughest challenges,” she added.

Update, Nov. 5, 2022: This story has been updated to clarify the target population of the Giving by All initiative and toinclude additional information about the Giving Ecosystem initiative.