National Human Services Assembly Names Johnson-Cusack as New President and CEO

WASHINGTON - March 11, 2015 - PRLog -- The National Human Services Assembly, a D.C. based organization composed of nearly 90 national nonprofits, announced the selection of Gloria Johnson-Cusack as president and CEO effective April 6, 2015.

“Gloria’s stellar record in leadership positions across the nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental sectors gives us complete confidence that she is the right person to continue to grow the National Assembly’s ability to deliver, both for its members and for society at large,” said Cindy Lewin, executive vice president and general counsel at AARP, and part of the search committee at the Assembly.

Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide and standing vice chair of Leadership 18 echoed Lewin’s sentiment, “Gloria is well-suited and well-prepared to lead the Assembly.  She is all about collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation within the nonprofit community.”  Gallagher continued, “I’m certain she will draw on her years of experience working with our CEO cohort. Together at Leadership 18, they have tackled the toughest community and leadership challenges of the day.”

Johnson-Cusack brings more than 20 years of expertise informed by leadership positions in the private sector, charitable sector, U.S. Congress, federal and municipal government, national presidential campaigns and the White House. Before joining the Assembly, she was executive director of Leadership 18, which is an alliance of CEOs responsible for leading the oldest and largest human services nonprofits. Almost all Leadership 18 organizations are members of the Assembly.

“I have proud working-class roots and feel a deep, personal sense of responsibility to create more opportunities for more people. The status quo is not good enough,” explained Johnson-Cusack. “At its heart, that’s what the Assembly is about and it is my honor to champion change in partnership with these passionate, innovative leaders.”

Johnson-Cusack is national chairman of the board of trustees for United Cerebral Palsy. She served as senior vice president at GMMB, a D.C. based strategic communications and advertising firm where she advanced social and health causes on behalf of key nonprofit organizations, foundations and national associations—from improving supports for low-income students completing college to advancing diversity in the practice of law and medicine to addressing obesity nationwide.

In the public affairs arena, Johnson-Cusack served as director of the Office of Congressional Relations at the Peace Corps, special assistant to the President in the White House Office of National Service, and director of constituent relations at the Corporation for National Service. She was chief of staff for the D.C. Office of the Inspector General and was policy advisor to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Senator Albert Gore, Jr.

Johnson-Cusack holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, Columbia University and a master’s degree in public administration from the Key Management Program at American University.  She is a founder of the Eli J. Segal Citizen Leadership program at Brandeis University.

“I’ve been impressed with Gloria’s willingness and ability to forge coalitions among very diverse partners nation-wide,” stated Adam Meyerson, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable. “She demonstrated this ability in our shared advocacy to protect charitable tax incentives for the last few years. She listens and looks for shared interests and goals.”  Meyerson added, “The philanthropic community needs more of that.”

About the National Human Services Assembly

The National Human Services Assembly, a D.C. based organization comprised of nearly 90 national nonprofits is focused on shaping public dialogue and building capacity for the human services sector.  Assembly members, and their local service networks, collectively touch, or are touched by, nearly every household in America—as consumers, donors or volunteers. They comprise a $62 billion sector that employs approximately 1.2 million workers operating from 100,000 locations.  The Assembly facilitates a robust learning community among nonprofit professionals and provides group purchasing services to more than 3200 organizations.