UK Community Foundations has appointed Rosemary Macdonald as CEO. She joins UKCF permanently from Wiltshire Community Foundation, where she was CEO for twelve years. She has been acting as interim CEO of UKCF since March.

Rosemary Macdonald

‘I am looking forward to leading UKCF,’ Macdonald said. ‘I am so proud of the work community foundations did in quickly getting funds to those who needed it on a local level when coronavirus took its toll. UKCF has a long history of distributing funds to people in need in society – and that work has never been more important. UKCF plays an important role in the charity sector in speaking up for the smaller groups and organisations who otherwise struggle to be heard.’

In her role at UKCF, Macdonald hopes to champion local philanthropy and bring more resources to local communities during the current challenging fiscal times. She also expressed the urgency of putting diversity, equality, and inclusion at the heart of all of UKCF’s work. Macdonald’s statement comes at a time of reckoning with racial inequities for many, including within the UK philanthropy community.

Dr Jerome Booth, UKCF Board Chair, commented: ‘We are very fortunate to have Rosemary join UKCF in a permanent capacity after being the interim CEO since March. She brings enormous experience of the community foundation network and a passion for the work. Rosemary performed extremely effectively in what has been a high-pressure period as the network responds to the coronavirus pandemic across the UK.’