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Nat Williams, Ph. D
Executive Director
 

 
 
 
 


Hill-Snowdon Foundation Executive Director
Nat Chioke Williams, Ph.D.
Executive Director

As Executive Director, Nat Chioke Williams leads the Hill-Snowdon Foundation in its philanthropic and programmatic work, operations and partnerships within the community. In 2004 and 2005, Nat managed the Foundation's Economic Justice Program and Fund for DC program. Going forward, Nat will have the primary responsibility for HSF's Youth Organizing Program. Nat holds a B.A. in Psychology from Morehouse College, as well as a M.A. and Ph.D. in Community Psychology from New York University.

Nat's funding experience has focused on community organizing and youth organizing, and his background includes research on the socio-political development of African American youth activists, social movements, social oppression and liberation psychology; tenant organizing and non-profit management consulting. He currently serves as the co-chair of the Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing. Nat's prior philanthropic work in youth and community organizing includes positions as Program Officer for Youth Development at the Edward Hazen Foundation and Program Officer for the New York Foundation. Additionally, Nat has served as Assistant Professor of Black Studies for the State University of New York at new Paltz, Senior Program Associate for Community Resource Exchange in New York City, and Director of Organizing for the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board in New York City.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation Program OfficerShona Chakravartty
Senior Program Officer

As Senior Program Officer, Shona Chakravartty is responsible for leading and managing HSF's Economic Justice grantmaking program, as well as developing and implementing learning and leveraging activities related to HSF's economic justice interests.

Shona was most recently the Program Officer for the Four Freedoms Fund, a philanthropic collaborative that made grants to enhance the capacity of local and state organizations to actively engage immigrants in the civic, social and economic life of their communities and participate in national policy and advocacy efforts. Prior to that, she was a program officer at the Jewish Fund for Justice for almost six years where she was responsible for grantmaking in the areas of Women in Poverty, Assisting New Immigrants, and Economic Justice. Shona has also worked at a variety of non-profits in New York City including the National Council of Jewish Women, Sakhi for South Asian Women, and Women and Philanthropy. She has served on the boards of the New York Women's Foundation and South Asian Youth Action in Queens, and recenlty completed a term on the board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants & Refugees (GCIR). Shona was born in India and holds a B.A. from Columbia University and a Master's degree from Oxford University.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation Operations ManagerChristine Harris
Director of Finance and Administration

As Director of Finance and Administration, Christine Harris is responsible for administration of grants, finances, payroll and benefits, as well as implementation and management of office procedures, systems, and technology. Christine received her B.A. in political science from Drew University and her M.B.A. in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University. She has worked in the public and nonprofit sectors for over 13 years.

Prior to joining the Hill-Snowdon Foundation staff in September 2004, Christine served as Senior Project Manager for the law firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter and Verville where she consulted to several nonprofit clients on matters of operations, membership, fundraising and government relations. In this role, she also held the position of Vice President of Operations for HalfthePlanet Foundation. Christine's other past positions include Adminstrator, Melville Charitable Trust/The Philanthropic Initiative; Director of Administration, Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research; Director of External Affairs, VSA Arts; and Executive Assistant, United Cerebral Palsy Associations.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation Program Associate Michael Coffey
Program Officer

As Program Officer, Michael Coffey is responsible for leading and managing HSF's Fund for DC grantmaking program, as well as developing and implementing learning and leveraging activities related to HSF's interests in the national capital region.

Michael's background includes youth organizing on international security issues and research on father involvement and family development. Specifically, he held previous positions as the Director of Youth Programs with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Research Associate with the National Center on Fathers and Families. He gained funding experience as a consultant with the Compton Foundation's Danforth Initiative, which supported organizations that encouraged young leaders to explore social justice issues through a global lens. Also, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Fund for Santa Barbara. Michael holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation TrusteeAndrew L. Snowdon
Trustee

Andrew Snowdon, great-grandson of Arthur B. Hill, serves as Counsel in the Public Policy & Law Practice of Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

Andrew holds a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from Duke University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School. Formerly, Andrew has served as Counsel to the House Energy Commerce Committee, where he conducted Congressional investigations into waste, fraud, and mismanagement; Associate Director, Department of Market Regulation, National Association of Securities Dealers; Senior Counsel, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement; and Special Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia.

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Ariana Snowdon
Trustee

Ariana Snowdon, great-granddaughter of Arthur B. Hill, is a senior at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she is completing her B.A. in the Science in Society Program, concentrating in Environmental Science and Sociology, with a focus in Public Health. Prior to joining the Hill-Snowdon board, she served for four years as a member of the Grantmaking Committee for the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.

Beyond her academic work, Ariana has held several internships with various environmental and social-service organizations, including two semesters with American Rivers in Washington D.C. She has volunteered extensively for non-profits focusing on environmental protection, public health, and domestic violence prevention. In her spare time, she is a dedicated equestrian, backcountry ski fanatic, and aspiring mountaineer.

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Ashley Snowdon Blanchard
President

Ashley Snowdon Blanchard, great-granddaughter of Arthur B. Hill, is a consultant with TCC Group, where she works with nonprofit organizations and private foundations on strategic and business planning, program design and organizational development. In addition to HSF, Ashley is on the Board of the Ms. Foundation for Women and co-chairs the Council on Foundation's Next Generation Task Force.

Ashley received a B.A. from Stanford University and a Masters in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, where she concentrated her studies on social welfare policy and nonprofit management.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation Trustee Edward (Ted) W. Snowdon, Jr.
Trustee

Ted Snowdon, grandson of Arthur B. Hill, straddles two worlds - that of the philanthropic community, where he sits on several nonprofit boards and supports numerous charities, and that of the commercial New York theater, where he develops and produces new plays. In addition to his work with the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, The Ted Snowdon Foundation, which funds primarily the arts and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) causes.

Ted received his B.S. in speech and drama from Syracuse University and his M.F.A. in directing from Catholic University. He lives and works in New York City, where his most recent Broadway productions have included SOUVENIR, THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, and the musicals LOVEMUSIK and SPRING AWAKENING. His first producing credit was in 1979 with THE ELEPHANT MAN. Ever since then, Ted has strived to find and present theater that reflects his beliefs and worldview.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation TrusteeElizabeth Snowdon
Trustee

Elisabeth Snowdon, great-grandaughter of Arthur B. Hill, is currently the Founder & President of Nusta Spa, a full-service day spa for women and men that opened in Washington, DC in May 2004. Since beginning this project in the summer of 2002, Elizabeth has been responsible for leading all aspects of the spa's development, operations, marketing/public relations and financial oversight and planning. Nusta Spa is the first spa in the United States to be awarded Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council as part of its LEED ("Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design") for Commercial Interiors Pilot Program; additionally, the spa is the first and only Washington, DC project to achieve the Gold level of certification under any of the USGBC's LEED rating systems.

Elizabeth's previous work experience was in corporate communications and investor relations in San Francisco. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where she was named a John W. Rollins Scholar for leadership and academic achievement. She is currently a member of the Governing Board of her high school alma mater, National Cathedral School, in Washington, DC.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation Vice PresidentMarguerite (Margot) H. Snowdon
Vice President

Margot Snowdon, granddaughter of Arthur B. Hill, is the retired founder and director of the Yoga Room in Jackson, Wyoming. Margot studied at the Iyengar Institute in San Francisco, California, as well as the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India and was a certified Iyengar teacher. In 1997, she began in-depth study with John Friend and became a certified Anusara Teacher and Teacher Trainer in 2000. The Yoga Room was founded in 1985 as the first yoga center in Jackson Hole and became a dedicated Anusara Yoga studio in 2002.

Margot received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin. She formerly worked in the field of Special Needs Education both at Boston College and in the greater Boston region. Beyond the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, her current philanthropic focus is on partnering with organization in her home community of Jackson Hole, Wyoming which address health care, affordable housing, women's and/or environmental issues. In addition, Margot maintains an active involvement with horses, skiing and mountaineering.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation Treasurer/SecretaryRichard Snowdon, III
Treasurer/Secretary

Dick Snowdon, grandson of Arthur B. Hill, is currently an attorney with the firm, Trainum, Snowdon & Deane, where he specializes in estate planning, personal and corporate income tax and taxation of exempt organizations. Dick holds a B.S. from Syracuse University, College of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor with honors from the National Law Center, George Washington University. Following two years of active military service with the United States Army (1968-1970), which earned him an Army Commendation Medal and an honorable discharge at the rank of Captain, Dick returned to the legal profession.

Dick is active in the Washington, DC community and serves on many nonprofit boards and advisory councils. Some of his current positions include National Children's Museum, Vice Chair; Children's National Medical Center, Chair; Children's Hospital Foundation, Chair; Black Student Fund, Treasurer; for Love of Children, Vice Chairman; Protestant Episcopal Foundation of Washington (The National Cathedral), Chair; and Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, Treasurer.

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Hill-Snowdon Foundation FounderArthur B. Hill
Founder

Arthur Bullock Hill was born to homesteaders in Oklahoma City on October 20, 1892. As one of many children, money was very tight in the Hill household. He left school at the age of twelve to go to work at a drugstore, which he purchased within a few years. In his early twenties he sold the drugstore and took a job in pharmaceutical sales. On a sales trip to Dallas, he met Marguerite Stewart. They married in 1914 and settled in Dallas. Lillian Lee, their only daughter, was born in 1919 and married Edward Snowdon in 1941.

On another sales trip, Arthur met a senior manager of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which was fast becoming the nation's largest medical product company. When Arthur was offered a job with the firm he moved the family to Chicago in the early thirties to head the Midwest sales division. In the late thirties, the Hills moved to New Jersey to be near J&J's New Brunswick headquarters, settling first in Bound Brook and later in Plainfield.

Despite his lack of formal education, Arthur worked his way up in the company. When he retired in 1948, he was the Vice President of Sales and on the Board of Directors. Arthur retired relatively early for health reasons but remained on the Board for several years after his retirement. The company went public in 1943, and like many senior executives, Arthur took stock options in lieu of pay during the war. This would prove to be a fortuitous move, as stock prices steadily climbed over the following decades while the company expanded and diversified.

After his retirement, Arthur became more involved in social and civic life in Plainfield. He was active in a number of social organizations and local charities. He founded the local Community Chest, which later became the United Way of New Jersey. He also supported a home for wayward boys in Nebraska and funded a settlement house in the Black neighborhood of Plainfield. As a result of his humble beginnings, Arthur felt it was his responsibility to help those less fortunate. But he also believed that individuals are responsible for helping themselves, as he had done. He had a deep understanding of the medical system and worried that the unequal access to decent healthcare would lead to serious social unrest.

In 1959, Arthur founded the Hill-Snowdon Foundation in New Jersey with several thousand dollars in assets, primarily J&J stock. He served as a trustee until his death in 1983.

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