Gloria Johnson-Cusack Sets Course for National Human Services Assembly as New President and CEO

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Apr 6, 2015) - The National Human Services Assembly will actively seek to build coalitions and facilitate collaboration across the nonprofit human services sector and its supporters to better address increased demand for human services, said Gloria Johnson-Cusack, who today officially became President and CEO of the 90+-year-old umbrella organization for nearly 90 national human services organizations.

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

She added, "I lived in de facto segregated DC and attended tough public schools, and later thrived at Sidwell Friends and Columbia (both on full scholarship) in what seemed like another world. I've had a burn about creating more opportunities for more people ever since."

For more about Gloria Johnson-Cusack's views on the transformative potential of the National Assembly and its members, go to this video link.

Cindy Lewin, executive vice president and general counsel at AARP and part of the search committee at the Assembly, said, "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."

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."

Adam Meyerson, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, added, "I've been impressed with Gloria's willingness and ability to forge coalitions among very diverse partners nationwide. 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."

Ms. 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 also members of the Assembly.

She is national chairman of the board of trustees for United Cerebral Palsy and, earlier, served as senior vice president at GMMB, a DC-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 DC Office of the Inspector General and was policy advisor to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Senator Albert Gore, Jr.

Johnson-Cusack has 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.

About the National Human Services Assembly
The National Human Services Assembly, a, Washington, D.C.-based organization comprised of nearly 90 national nonprofits, is focused on shaping public dialogue and building capacity for the human services sector while facilitating a robust learning community among nonprofit professionals. The Assembly's members include such national organizations as AARP, the American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, The Salvation Army, United Cerebral Palsy, United Way Worldwide, YMCA, and YWCA. In aggregate, members and their local service networks and affiliates collectively touch, or are touched by, nearly every household in America -- as consumers, donors or volunteers.