A man with two degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a long history of community service is the new leader of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the 25-year-old organization that transforms citizens into philanthropists.
Starting in mid-January, Albert Ruesga will be the president and chief executive officer of a foundation that has moved beyond the role of grant maker to become a leader in the region's recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Three years after those storms pummeled south Louisiana, the need for help on so many fronts is still obvious. Ruesga, 50, is optimistic about what the foundation can do, even though donors' assets have dwindled as the national economy has shriveled.
"The work sells itself," he said from Washington, D.C., where he is a vice president of the community-oriented Meyer Foundation.
"You find some of these bright nonprofit leaders, and you have them talk from the heart and talk about what they see in their communities and talk about how effective their organizations are in delivering services and advocating for the poor," Ruesga said. "You can almost hear the swish of checkbooks coming out of pockets.
"This is what donors long for. They want to see that their gifts will be effective and well-used."
Ruesga started volunteering for nonprofit organizations while he was in high school in Miami, and worked in soup kitchens when he was in college. While Ruesga was in graduate school, he founded Poverty Solutions International to raise money in the United States for grass-roots programs in the developing world.
Ruesga, who speaks fluent Spanish and French as well as some German, has an undergraduate degree in physics and a doctorate in philosophy. But, he said, the prospect of spending his life in science or academics just didn't appeal to him.
So after three years teaching philosophy at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, he became donor-resources manager at the Boston Foundation in 1994. Four years later, he moved to Washington to work for the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers and, in 2001, the Meyer Foundation, where he is vice president for programs and communications.
The career shift wasn't as abrupt as it might seem on paper, Ruesga said, because he had always been involved with nonprofit agencies.
In New Orleans, he will lead an organization that has about $190 million in assets and manages about 700 funds of all sizes that local donors have established to benefit activities in such categories as education, the arts and health. Donors give their money to the foundation, which not only manages their assets but also advises them when they want to give it away.
"The beauty of a community foundation is that you can work with all people who want to give charitable gifts, from high-worth individuals to people with modest means," said Ben Johnson, the foundation's president and chief executive officer from 1991 through June 30.
For instance, Joyce Leonard, a retired public-school teacher, wanted to help teachers in Lafourche Parish, where she and her husband, Jim Leonard, live.
Last year, they set up a foundation that will give, in perpetuity, the annual tax-free rollovers from her IRA to the Lafourche School Education Foundation. The money, in turn, becomes grants that are awarded each year to outstanding educators.
"We feel it's important," Joyce Leonard said. "We believe in public education, and you need to motivate the teachers."
After the hurricanes of 2005, the foundation's role changed radically. In addition to making grants, the organization took on recovery programs, working with such national organizations as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
"The challenge was trying to respond to the national outpouring," Johnson said. "We tried to bring resources to the community and connect with people who were doing great work."
First came the Unified New Orleans Plan, an exhaustive strategy for rebuilding the city with an agenda that could cost about $14 billion to carry out. It was developed with financial and staff help from the Rockefeller Foundation, and the City Council approved it in May 2007.
Five months later, in partnership with nine other foundations, the Greater New Orleans Foundation launched the Community Revitalization Fund, a $25 million initiative to provide affordable housing for people who want to return to New Orleans but need homes.
The foundation also launched affiliates in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes as part of the recovery effort. Another broad area of involvement embraces efforts dealing with public education and preparing people to land good jobs.
Since Katrina struck in August 2005, the foundation has allocated $41.4 million for recovery-related work.
By taking the lead in such activities, the foundation "took a very hard situation and turned it into a success," said Fran Villere, a former board chairwoman.
It may seem an obvious role in hindsight, but it wasn't an easy one to step into, said Diana Lewis, a former board chairwoman.
"It took a lot of courage and a lot of willpower, because, so often, community foundations are sort of servants to the community instead of playing a leadership role," she said.
"I think that's why Albert was selected," Lewis said. "I think the current leadership of the foundation feels that . . . if the philanthropic sector can't stand up and make waves and push a more equitable agenda in this city, who will?"