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With heartfelt thanks, The Kresge Foundation announces that Ernest B. Gutierrez Jr. is retiring at the end of December. “Ernie, you have been a wonderful ambassador for this foundation for the last 18 years,” said Elaine D. Rosen, chair of the foundation’s board of trustees, at its fourth quarter meeting on December 12. “You have our best wishes for everything you undertake.”

Gutierrez joined the foundation in 1989 as a program officer and was made a program director in 2004. This past year, as the foundation began the process of expanding its grantmaking to better address society’s pressing issues, Ernie, as he is known to colleagues and grantees alike, led the development of a new health team.

“Ernie’s passionate advocacy for the disadvantaged is the hallmark of his career at Kresge,” added Rip Rapson, president of the foundation. “He never hesitated to ask the tough questions but always did so with characteristic graciousness. We will miss him.”

A notable example of Gutierrez’ work was the foundation’s five-year, $18 million Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative. The initiative, which he was instrumental in developing and managed, recognized the valuable role these special-mission schools have played and continue to play in American higher education. The effort worked to strengthen the advancement capabilities of five institutions and resulted in a publication of best practices, Changing the Odds. The United Negro College Fund has since established the Institutional Advancement Program to replicate and expand the Kresge model for capacity building for the benefit of all its members.

Gutierrez has held several leadership positions at national philanthropic and nonprofit organizations. For several years, he served on the Council on Foundation’s National Committee on Inclusiveness. The council addresses critical issues and opportunities in the field of philanthropy.  Steve Gunderson, president of the Council on Foundations, praised Gutierrez’ “remarkable career” and added, “You have helped us to usher in a new way of thinking about diversity and inclusiveness.”

Currently, Gutierrez is vice chair of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a program of the Better Business Bureau that helps donors make informed giving decisions and advances high standards of conduct among organizations that solicit contributions from the public. He also served on the external review committee of the Community Clinics Initiative, a collaboration of the Tides Foundation and The California Endowment that strives to improve health outcomes in California’s underserved communities by providing resources, evaluation and training to community health centers and clinics.

Prior to joining the Kresge Foundation, Gutierrez was executive director of the Boston Fair Housing Commission; a program officer at the John Hay Whitney Foundation in New York City; and a program officer and allocations director for the Campaign for Human Development in Washington, D.C. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Columbia University and a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from The American University. In 2008, he plans to move from Michigan to the Washington D.C. area to be near family.

To reach Ernie Gutierrez, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).