Lee Pelton, president and CEO of The Boston Foundation, said Thursday that he will step down later this year and stay in the role through August 31. His five-year run has seen the foundation dive into affordable housing deals, emergency support for immigrants, and food security work, all while cranking up the overall volume of grantmaking. City and state leaders lined up to praise his civic style as the foundation gears up for a board-led search for whoever comes next.
Pelton to stay through end of August
The Boston Foundation said in a press release that Pelton informed the board of his plan to wrap up his tenure and will remain fully engaged as president and CEO through August 31 while the board conducts the search for the next leader, according to The Boston Foundation. “Serving as President and CEO of the Boston Foundation has been one of the great privileges of my life,” Pelton said in the announcement, adding that he plans to create “greater space for writing, advising, mentorship, board service, and continued civic engagement.”
City leaders hail a 'transformative' partner
Mayor Michelle Wu called Pelton the person you want nearby “in times of emergency and bold imagination,” as reported by The Boston Globe. Pelton joined the foundation in May 2021 after more than two decades as a college president and quickly put equity, housing, and civic partnerships at the center of its work.
Record fundraising and bigger grantmaking
Under Pelton’s leadership, the foundation’s assets grew by nearly $1 billion to about $2.6 billion, and the annual resources it directs to communities nearly doubled to more than $300 million, the foundation said in its announcement. Pelton also launched the Meeting the Moment campaign, which has invested about $9 million to support food assistance and immigrant services, according to The Boston Foundation.
Housing and the racial wealth gap
Pelton made housing a signature priority by helping found the Greater Boston Partnership to Close the Racial Wealth Gap, a coalition that aimed to raise $25 million and has helped enable roughly 400 first-time homeowners, as reported by The Boston Globe. The foundation’s Acquisition Opportunity Fund also helped purchase more than 400 market-rate apartments for use as affordable housing, moves that civic leaders credited with expanding the city’s supply of below-market units.
What comes next
Pelton, who joined The Boston Foundation in May 2021 after a decade at Emerson College and earlier service as president of Willamette University, said he will stay active in civic life even as he creates “greater space” for writing and advising. The foundation’s board said it already has a succession plan and search strategy in place and will share more details in the coming weeks.
As the region looks ahead, donors and local nonprofits will be watching to see whether the foundation’s recent priorities, from housing to immigrant supports, remain at the forefront under new leadership. For now, TBF and its partners say the work will roll on without interruption.
