BridgeStreet Partners Fills Senior Positions for Communities Foundation of Texas

December 15, 2022 – BridgeStreet Partners recently filled three senior roles for Communities Foundation of Texas. The search firm recruited Jim Berry as chief financial officer, Truman Greene as chief human resources officer, and Roger Santone as chief information officer for the non-profit organization. “As Communities Foundation of Texas has continued to grow, a top propriety has been ensuring its leaders have a natural executive presence that is relatable to the executive team, the board of trustees, and all employees of the organization,” said Dave Westberry, a managing director at the firm. “The leaders of the Communities Foundation of Texas are apolitical stewards of open and honest communication at all levels of the organization.”
Mr. Berry is a seasoned financial executive who brings deep and diverse experience to this important role at Communities Foundation of Texas including business development, strategic planning, financial planning and control, change management, and risk management. He has spent more than three decades working in finance, administration, IT and strategy in the real estate, restaurant and hospitality, media, and staffing industries.
Mr. Berry most recently served as CFO for global real estate developer Harwood International, well-known locally for transforming the Uptown Dallas neighborhood. While at Harwood International, he was responsible for planning, managing, and controlling all financial-related activities for the company and participating in business development efforts. Prior to that, Mr. Berry was CFO of Snelling and Vasari LLC and held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Belo Corporation, Burger King, and McDonald’s. A certified public accountant, he began his career in the assurance practices of global accountancies PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton.
Mr. Greene has over 25 years of global human resources experience, particularly in the manufacturing industry. Throughout his career, he has learned a great deal about the needs of the community. This exposure heightened his interest in giving back, and he now uses his skills and experience to support Communities Foundation of Texas’ work in North Texas and across the state.
Mr. Greene previously served as senior vice president and CHRO for Forterra Inc., a multibillion-dollar manufacturer of pipe and products in the U.S. and Canada. He led the full-scope human capital related efforts across two major business lines and all corporate functions. He also served as the leader in cultural change initiatives, inclusive of clear strategic objectives, and with a focus on team member engagement. Mr. Greene previously held CHRO and vice president positions at Motorsport Aftermarket Group, Invensys LTD, RathGibson Inc., and Lennox International. He has built and led HR partnerships with functions across the business from finance, research and development, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, delivery, and sales and marketing. His diverse skills will be especially helpful in support of the “One- Communities Foundation of Texas” framework.
As the chief information officer, Mr. Santone provides strategic leadership across all aspects of information technology for the organization. He is responsible for ensuring technology is an enabler for the people and the mission of Communities Foundation of Texas. He began his career as a software developer for Texas Utilities creating electrical distribution applications. He held progressive leadership roles at Frito-Lay and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway before taking his first CIO position at a GE Capital company. Mr. Santone has since held CIO positions at several organizations including Atrium Companies, Brink’s and the American Heart Association. Prior to joining Communities Foundation of Texas, he led the IT team at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society.
Communities Foundation of Texas is a public foundation that professionally manages more than 1,200 charitable funds for individuals, families, companies, and non-profits and has awarded over $2 billion in grants since its founding in 1953.
BridgeStreet Partners recently kicked off its fourth assignment for Communities Foundation of Texas and is looking for a new managing director, operations – Educate Texas, an educational consultancy and advocacy initiative of the non-profit.
Proven Search Firm
BridgeStreet Partners is a boutique retained search firm founded in 2007 with locations in New York; Los Angeles; Palo Alto, CA; Dallas; and Houston, TX. Each managing director brings over 20 years of retained search experience all with prior industry backgrounds. Its managing directors have been CFOs, CIOs, partners in consulting, and sales and marketing executives.
BridgeStreet Partners Recruits Chief Information Officer for Austin Industries
BridgeStreet Partners recently recruited Janya Kieffer as the new chief information officer of Austin Industries. Ms. Kieffer was most recently the vice president of information technology at Acme Brick, a Berkshire Hathaway company headquartered in Fort Worth, TX. Earlier in her career, she was the CIO at PrimeSource Building Products, one of the largest distributors of building materials in North America. She is a board member for the Dallas chapter of the Society for Information Management. Austin Industries is one of the nation’s largest, most diversified U.S.-based construction companies. The business provides nearly every type of civil, commercial, and industrial construction service.
Scott Williams, the firm’s co-founder, has more than 20 years of executive search experience recruiting C-level executives for clients in many industries and partners for global consultancies, public accounting, and other professional service firms. He also has 15 years of consulting experience working with clients to design and implement improved business processes along with cutting edge information technologies. He is a specialist in the professional services industry and the functional area of chief information officer search.
“Being a boutique of seasoned executive search professionals spread across the country, our operations have not drastically changed,” said Mr. Westberry. “We have always been very hands-on and highly collaborative. But, like most people, instead of conference calls and in-person interviews, we moved to video conferencing. And, we recently have moved to a new, much more dynamic database to ensure that our clients continue to receive the best service possible.”
Related: BridgeStreet Partners Finds CFO for J.W. Logistics
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media