Holland Lee Hendrix, who has served as chief advancement officer at Hampshire College in Massachusetts and as president of the New York-based Union Theological Seminary, has been named executive director of philanthropy, a new position created by General Synod.
Archdeacon Michael Pollesel, general secretary of the national office in Toronto, said that Mr. Hendrix “brings to the position all the needed gifts and skills to help the Anglican Church of Canada achieve a level of financial stability that will enable it to carry out the vital mission and ministry to which we are called in this new era.”
The new director has “both academically and professionally” the “high qualifications with which to face this new challenge,” Archdeacon Pollesel said in a statement announcing the hiring of Mr. Hendrix.
Mr. Hendrix has a doctorate in theology from Harvard University Divinity School, as well as other degrees from the Union Theological Seminary and from Columbia University, both in New York.
He also brings “a wealth of practical experience” to the position, having planned and implemented a $125 million financial campaign while working at Hampshire College from 2002 to 2007.
He led Union Theological Seminary through a “major renewal process” while he served as its president from 1991 to 1998, said Archdeacon Pollesel. From 1998 to 2001, he served as president and chief executive officer of Echoing Green Foundation.
The announcement was the culmination of a search process that took many months. It also involved consultations with more than 40 individuals.
Archdeacon Pollesel added that Mr. Hendrix was the unanimous choice of the search committee. The creation of the new position was in response to a recommendation made by Lorna Somers, a fundraising expert who conducted an audit in 2006 of the way the Anglican Church of Canada seeks donations.
She noted that while there is fundraising expertise, there is “no single person with the depth and scope of experience in managing a diverse, comprehensive and geographically dispersed fundraising program.”