Christopher J. Daggett Named New
Dodge Foundation President and CEO

The Trustees of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation are pleased to announce that Christopher J. Daggett will assume the position of President and CEO of the Foundation on June 14, 2010. He will succeed David Grant, who has led the Dodge Foundation since 1998.

“The Board of the Dodge Foundation is honored to attract someone of Chris’ stature to this position,” said Trustee and Executive Search Committee Chair Christopher J. Elliman. “He possesses an understanding of the issues both in terms of seeking and in giving funds. We believe his leadership style, coupled with his years of experience in the public arena, will be an asset to the organization.”

Since 2004, Mr. Daggett has been a Principal with JM Sorge, Inc. (JMS), a full service environmental consulting and management firm providing assessment, investigation and remediation services to the public and private sectors. While at JMS, Mr. Daggett assisted in the development and implementation of a nonprofit seminar program by JMS to help children’s day care facility leaders understand and address new environmental oversight regulations. Mr. Daggett also assisted JMS public clients in purchasing, remediating and preserving over 600 acres of state and federal land, and helped develop JMS’ role as a leader in the new Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) program.

Mr. Daggett ran for governor of New Jersey in 2009, becoming the first independent candidate to raise the threshold amount of money to qualify for public matching funds and to participate in public debates with the major party candidates. Previously, Mr. Daggett served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of New Jersey (1982-1983), Regional Administrator of the USEPA (1984-1988), and Commissioner of the NJDEP (1988-1989). In addition, for six years he was a managing director of William E. Simon & Sons, a private investment firm and, since 1996, has operated a brownfields development company, acquiring, remediating and redeveloping environmentally impaired real estate.

Mr. Daggett’s public and non-profit service includes: serving as chairman of the NJDEP Permit Efficiency Review Task Force; co-chair of the New Jersey Advisory Council of the Trust for Public Land; co-chair of the New Jersey Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, of Regional Plan Association; a board member of the Hudson River Foundation and of the Schumann Fund for New Jersey; a member of the Advisory Board of the Children’s Environmental Health Center of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment.

Mr. Daggett holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Mr. Daggett lives in Basking Ridge with his wife Bea. They have two grown children, Alexandra and Justine.

“I am honored that the Board has selected me to head the Dodge Foundation. Under David Grant’s direction, Dodge has continued and enhanced its role in the philanthropic community in New Jersey. I am excited by the opportunity to take the leadership reins and look forward to working with the Trustees to build on the Foundation’s strong history of contributing to the civic and cultural well being of the state.”

Board Chairman Robert LeBuhn praised David Grant’s tenure emphasizing that, “David was the driving force behind the Dodge Foundation’s decision to move to its ‘green’ offices in Morristown in 2008, which are on track to become Morristown’s first LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building.” LeBuhn also noted that, “In his final year at Dodge, David made two momentous contributions to the Foundation: he helped preserve the 2010 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, which will take place in October, 2010 in Newark. He also helped integrate the Foundation’s different areas of grantmaking (education, arts, environment) under the themes of Creativity and Sustainability.”

The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation was founded in 1974 through the foresight and generosity of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge (daughter of William and Almira Rockefeller) with a $60 million bequest which has grown to $238 million currently. Over the course of 35 years, the Dodge Foundation has made 12,000 grants totaling $382 million. The Foundation was led for 23 years (1975 – 1998) by Scott McVay.