Walton Family Foundation announces new executive director

The Walton Family Foundation (WFF) in Bentonville announced Thursday (July 13) the hiring of Stephanie Cornell as the foundation’s new executive director.

Cornell replaces Caryl Stern, who announced her resignation this past fall.

WFF was created in 1987 and is led by the family of Walmart Inc. founders Sam and Helen Walton. Annie Proietti, one of their granddaughters, is the board chair. The Walton’s youngest son, Jim Walton, is Proietti’s father.

In an email Thursday, Proietti shared the news of Cornell’s arrival. Most recently, she was the managing director of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, where she worked since 2014. Before that, Cornell co-founded three social ventures: Strategic Grant Partners, Project Healthy Children (now Sanku) and the Maranyundo Initiative.

“Stephanie’s leadership will help continue the vision that inspired my grandparents, Sam and Helen Walton, when they started the foundation,” Proietti wrote. “They believed in the limitless potential of people with access to opportunity and encouragement. Their vision has guided the foundation for more than three decades while adapting to today’s world.”

There’s more on Cornell and her work at this link.

WFF has about 100 employees and additional offices in Denver and Washington, D.C.