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Broad Foundation names insider as its new president

The Broad Foundation, whose projects have included a new contemporary art museum in downtown Los Angeles, above, has named Gerun Riley as its new president.
The Broad Foundation, whose projects have included a new contemporary art museum in downtown Los Angeles, above, has named Gerun Riley as its new president.
(Gina Ferrazi / Los Angeles Times)
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The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced Friday that it has named Gerun Riley as its new president.

Riley has spent 13 years with the Broad Foundation, which provides grants in education, science and the arts. She will be the foundation’s first president to oversee all areas of the organization.

Bruce Reed held the title of president from 2013 to 2015, but he was focused on education initiatives. After Reed, the foundation had no president until Riley’s appointment.

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Eli Broad remains chairman of the board of the foundation, which helped to create or fund institutions including the Broad art museum in downtown Los Angeles and the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. In a statement, Broad, 83, said that he and wife Edythe, 80, were healthy but “mindful that we will not live forever, despite our best efforts!”

Broad said that the foundation had been searching for a president for some time.

“We want our philanthropy to continue after we are gone,” Broad said, adding that they “have looked for someone whom we trust to work with us in overseeing our philanthropic activities, someone who shares our values and priorities. And the right person has been with us the whole time.”

Riley, who will lead a 10-member board of governors, worked her way up from an entry-level administrative role to her current position as senior vice president. Broad called Riley “smart, loyal and passionate about our philanthropic work.”

A Connecticut native, Riley has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and has lived in Los Angeles since 2002. She’s married to television writer and producer Jason Wilborn, and they have two children.

Follow me on Twitter: @DebVankin

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