The Robin Hood Foundation Board of Directors Announces Transition Plan

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - The Board of Directors of Robin Hood announced today that after more than 27 years of distinguished service, David Saltzman, its co-founder and executive director, has resigned effective December 31, 2016 and will join Robin Hood's Board of Directors the following day.

"David always has been and always will be my brother-in-arms. There would be no Robin Hood without his fierce dedication to the neediest, his recruiting of an All Star team to join our staff, and his wise leadership. That seminal leadership in poverty fighting and institution building brought Robin Hood to heights we never could have even dreamed of back in 1988. David's dedication -- and long tenure -- serving New Yorkers in need are unprecedented. He is a passionate warrior for those in need, loved and admired by an unparalleled group of donors, government officials, our staff, volunteers, the extraordinary leaders of the programs we support and, most of all, the people Robin Hood serves. I am thrilled that he has agreed to keep it going as a board member and the Chair of our Education Committee," said Paul Tudor Jones, also a Robin Hood co-founder.

Under David Saltzman's leadership, Robin Hood has grown from a start-up idea with five partners that made $52,000 of grants to two poverty-fighting organizations into New York City's most highly regarded poverty-fighting institution that has raised more than $2.5 billion dollars from more than 360,000 donors and supports over 250 poverty-fighting efforts each year.

Studied at both Harvard Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business for its pioneering efforts to develop metrics to measure effectiveness, Robin Hood's methodology is now copied across the nation and around the world. During David's nearly three decades of service, he has helped build a multi-faceted and diverse community of supporters, establish a respected brand, animate the charter school movement, push for public school reforms, lead Robin Hood's response to 9/11 and then its response to Hurricane Sandy and catalyze the Veterans Initiative. David was part of the teams that gave birth to the Relay Graduate School of Education, which is now being replicated across the country, and Zearn, which is being used by more than one million K-5 students around the nation.

While David is proud of all the extraordinary results and the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been transformed, he is most proud of the community of caring Robin Hood has become for its hundreds of thousands of donors, its volunteers, its extraordinary staff, the government policy makers it influences, the leaders of the organizations it supports and the vulnerable people of our city who most need help.

To keep building on these and many other contributions to Robin Hood, David will be joining the Board of Directors effective January 1, 2017, where he will chair the Education Committee, and participate in the Housing Advisory Board and the Education + Technology Advisory Board.

David Saltzman says, "I am thrilled and honored to rejoin Robin Hood's Board of Directors after serving for more than 27 years -- exactly half my life -- as executive director. I know Robin Hood's best days are in our future."

Concurrently Reynold Levy, Robin Hood's president, and David will work with a newly-formed Leadership Search Committee made up of members of the Board of Directors to identify a successor to take over both David and Reynold's responsibilities. This Leadership Search Committee will be co-chaired by Geoffrey Canada and Larry Robbins. Reynold will remain in his post until this process reaches a successful conclusion. Beyond his tenure as president, Reynold will continue to lead "The Billion Dollar Challenge," a massive Robin Hood initiative designed to lift hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers out of poverty by enrolling them in key benefits to which they are legally entitled.

"In only 15 months Reynold has strengthened Robin Hood internally and externally. He will continue to serve as a key transitional figure helping to lay the groundwork for Robin Hood's bright future," noted David Einhorn, Robin Hood's Board chair. "We are deeply grateful that Reynold has agreed to play these additional roles in helping to solidify and secure Robin Hood's successful future."

The Robin Hood Board of Directors has retained the executive recruitment firm Spencer Stuart to guide the search committee.

About Robin Hood
Robin Hood, New York's largest poverty-fighting organization, funds over 250 of the most effective programs, to help New Yorkers in need learn and earn their way out of poverty. Some 360,000 donors join together to support programs that provide food and shelter, education and job training, counseling and legal support, and healthcare to the 1.8 million men, women, and children living in poverty in New York City. Robin Hood's board underwrites all operating costs, so 100% of every donation goes directly to serve vulnerable New Yorkers.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/10/25/11G119425/Images/file1-d24341c3d3e5a3389385bdc85b15f098.jpeg