PITTSBURGH (July 20, 2026) – Richard King Mellon Foundation Director Sam Reiman announced today that the Foundation’s Board of Trustees has approved promotions for the Foundation’s four Program Officers and two administrative managers, and that a new Program Associate has joined the Foundation team.
The Foundation’s four Program Officers, Curan Bonham, Gabriella Gonzalez, Lynne Ventress and Bobby Zappala, became Senior Program Officers effective July 1.
The four newly minted Senior Program Officers have a combined 25 years of experience at the Richard King Mellon Foundation. Each also had significant career and educational achievements prior to joining the Foundation.
“The Foundation’s Board of Trustees approved these promotions because of the significant work that Curan, Gaby, Lynne and Bobby have done to advance the Foundation’s philanthropic mission,” said Sam Reiman, Director of the Foundation and himself a Trustee. “They have earned the Board’s respect, confidence and trust.”
Program Officers at the Foundation review and assess grant and Program-Related Investment (PRI) applications. They play a key role in determining what grants and Program-Related Investments will be recommended to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. They also assist grantees and PRI recipients through convenings, communications and partnership-building. And they monitor and assess the execution of the grants and PRIs that are awarded by the Board.
Program Officers work collaboratively across the Foundation’s six Program Areas. Each Program Officer also has one Program Area as their primary area of focus.
Bonham, whose primary focus is the Foundation’s Conservation program, joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in 2021 after nearly 10 years at Conservation International. Bonham, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala and a Fullbright Scholar in Chile, is a graduate of Cornell University, and holds a Master’s degree in International Resource Management from the University of Montana.
Gonzalez, whose primary focus is the Foundation’s Economic Development program, joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in 2020. She previously was a Senior Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation, specializing in the future of work, human-capital development and school-to-work transitions. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard, where she also obtained her Master’s and undergraduate degrees.
Ventress, whose primary focus is the Foundation’s Economic Mobility program, joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in 2017. She previously was a manager in Deloitte’s Washington D.C. office. Ventress is a graduate of Middlebury College and holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Zappala, whose primary focus is the Foundation’s Social-Impact Investment program, joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in 2021. He previously was Co-Founder and Chairman of Ascender, one of the Pittsburgh area’s leading business incubators. Zappala is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and practiced law in Pittsburgh at Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney PC.
Reiman also announced that Emma Garris joined the Foundation team last September in the role of Program Associate. Garris, whose primary focus is the Foundation’s Health & Well-Being program, came to the Foundation from UPMC, where she was a Research Project Assistant. Garris is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.
Reiman also announced two recent administrative promotions at the Foundation. Nikki Pirain, who joined the Foundation in 2016, was promoted last year from Information and Grants Manager to Senior Information and Grants Manager. And Maria Lugares, who joined the Foundation in 2024, was promoted earlier this year from Program Coordinator to Program Coordinator and Associate Grants Manager.
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About the Richard King Mellon Foundation: Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation’s 2025 year-end net assets were $3.3 billion, and its Trustees in 2025 disbursed more than $167 million in grants and program-related investments. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021-2030 Strategic Plan.