Joan Colello Named Trustee Emeritus, Fatima Shama and Kenneth Halcom Join Pinkerton Foundation Board
After nearly 50 years on The Pinkerton Foundation Board of Trustees, former Executive Director and Board Secretary Joan Colello has decided to retire from active service on the board. Colello will become Trustee Emeritus, effective immediately, Pinkerton Chairman Daniel L. Mosley and President and CEO Rick Smith announced after a recent board meeting. “It is impossible to overstate Joan’s role in shaping the Foundation of today,” said Mosley. “She was present when Robert Pinkerton established the Foundation in 1966 and served as Executive Director until her retirement in 2010. In her quiet, thoughtful way, she forged Pinkerton’s commitment to direct-service programs for disadvantaged young people and became a leader in New York City philanthropy. We are fortunate to have the continuing benefit of her guidance in her new emeritus role.”
Two new Trustees—Fatima A. Shama and Kenneth C. Halcom—have also joined the Pinkerton board. Fatima Shama was the New York City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and is currently Executive Director of the Fresh Air Fund. Ken Halcom is a partner at the law firm of Cravath Swaine & Moore, where he specializes in estate planning, business succession and philanthropy. “Fatima and Ken are truly distinguished leaders,” said Smith. “They bring a wealth of experience and wisdom, but above all they share a deep commitment to helping young people develop their full potential. We are delighted to welcome them to the Pinkerton board.”
The Pinkerton Foundation is an independent grantmaking organization established in 1966 by Robert Allan Pinkerton, the Chairman and CEO of Pinkerton’s, Inc., then the nation’s oldest and largest security company. The Foundation, which retains no ties to the firm, primarily supports direct-service, community- based programs for children, youth and families in economically disadvantaged areas in New York City. The Foundation makes nearly 300 grants annually, totaling roughly $35 million.
The Foundation’s major initiatives include support for paid career internship programs that reach 5,000 young people each year and an intensive science research mentoring initiative—The Pinkerton Scholars Program—that engages several hundred talented high school students from under-resourced schools in authentic research projects at 22 science-based institutions throughout the city. In addition to a host of cultural enrichment, career readiness and college access programs, the Foundation has a special interest in programs serving the city’s most vulnerable young people—those in foster care or involved in the criminal justice system...
For more information, see www.thepinkertonfoundation.org