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WASHINGTON, DC, January 8, 2024 – Today the Urban Institute announced a newly configured executive leadership team with the promotion of four leaders to new roles.

Effective January 6,

• Kimberlyn Leary is now executive vice president, working with president Sarah Rosen Wartell to help build Urban’s profile, identify partners, and open new doors for Urban to drive impact;
• Mary Cunningham is now senior vice president for research development and program management, overseeing Urban’s future divisions and research programs;
• Myra Jones-Taylor is now senior vice president for impact and external affairs, overseeing the communications and development departments, in addition to government affairs and policy impact; and
• Yasmin Kazzaz is now chief operations officer, overseeing several departments and offices and preparing Urban’s systems for the implementation of a new strategic framework, while remaining head of human resources.

Leary, Cunningham, Jones-Taylor, and Kazzaz join president Sarah Rosen Wartell in the executive office as the newly formed executive leadership team. They will coordinate across the institution’s broad scope, manage implementation of new initiatives, and focus on external engagement that equips changemakers with evidence and solutions that drive impact.

“Urban has grown rapidly over the past decade. This growth was not just in size but in complexity: more areas of work, new research methods and research-to-action capacities, new audiences and ways of communicating, and a broader diversity of funders,” Wartell said. “All that complexity has demanded more from every corner of the organization—and I could not think of a better leadership team to guide us going forward as we work to create a future where everyone has the opportunity and power to thrive.”

In addition, Urban announced two new senior hires and two interim appointments for current vice presidents:

• Jocelyn Fontaine joins this month as vice president for strategic program development and senior fellow for justice policy;
• Tracey Patillo Johnson joined in November 2023 as vice president for financial planning and analysis;
• Janneke Ratcliffe has been named interim vice president for metropolitan housing and communities while remaining vice president for housing finance policy; and
• Tené Traylor has been named interim vice president of the Research to Action Lab while continuing as vice president for nonprofits and philanthropy and senior fellow.

Read more about new hires Fontaine and Johnson below.

Jocelyn Fontaine, vice president for strategic program development and senior fellow for justice policy

Jocelyn Fontaine returns to the Urban Institute from Arnold Ventures, where she served as vice president of criminal justice research. Joining the institute in a new role, Fontaine will leverage her experience as a leading scholar with deep Urban experience and a philanthropic funder to develop and build support for Urban’s research programs. She received her bachelor’s in sociology/criminology from Villanova University and her doctorate in justice and public policy from the School of Public Affairs at American University.

Tracey Patillo Johnson,vice president for financial planning and analysis

Tracey Patillo Johnson joins Urban in a new role, vice president for financial planning and analysis. Johnson is tasked with assessing Urban’s needs, developing a plan for a best-in-class financial planning and analysis function suited to those needs, building upon the progress made in recent years to deliver tools and insights, supporting the professional growth and development of current and future staff, and designing and implementing the right financial planning and analysis systems and processes for the institute’s future. Before joining Urban, she served as the vice president for program operations at the World Wildlife Fund and chief financial officer at the World Resources Institute. She also worked as a financial planning and analysis director for The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine for nearly 20 years. Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics from Swarthmore College, a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and an executive leadership certificate from Cornell University.

About the Urban Institute

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. We are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decisionmaking, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered facts that inspire solutions—and this remains our charge today.