The Century Foundation (TCF) announced today that Mark Zuckerman has decided to step down as president of TCF around March 2025, a position he will have held for ten years. TCF’s Board of Trustees, led by Chairman Bradley Abelow, will oversee the leadership transition process, with the goal of having a new president in place by early spring.
Founded in 1919, TCF has reclaimed its legacy as a leading progressive policy organization under Mark’s leadership. In recent years, Century has experienced significant growth in both staff and budget; increased its influence on Capitol Hill and in state and local legislatures; and built out new, diverse policy teams of leading experts who have won major progressive victories, from protecting the Affordable Care Act, to leading the fight to secure $800+ billion in expanded aid to unemployed workers during the pandemic, to sounding the alarm about the nation’s fiscal “child care cliff.”
“The Century Foundation is a different institution than when Mark became president,” said TCF Board Chairman Bradley Abelow. “Under Mark’s leadership, we have focused on a set of core policy areas and deepened our teams, strengthened our financial footing, and dramatically increased TCF’s impact. The Board is more optimistic than ever about the future of Century, and we cannot thank Mark enough for his leadership in getting us to where we are today.”
Highlights of Mark’s tenure as TCF president include:
- Tripling TCF’s annual budget and more than doubling its staff by winning the support of over 50 grantmaking institutions, raising tens of millions of dollars.
- Building powerful policy teams focused on equity and fairness across pre-K-12; higher education; health care, Black maternal health, and reproductive justice; the economy and labor, women’s economic justice, and workforce development; disability justice; and foreign policy.
- Becoming the most diverse team in TCF’s institution’s history, with more than 50 percent of employees identifying as people of color.
- Creating a think tank from scratch, Next100, to build a new generation of diverse leaders and change how policy gets made by centering lived experience.
- Changing TCF’s status from a private foundation to a public charity, allowing TCF to increase its advocacy efforts and influence in state and local governments and in Congress.
- Setting a model for how think tanks work hand-in-hand with communities on the ground, through unique initiatives such as the Bridges Collaborative, Industry & Inclusion, Disability Economic Justice Collaborative, Black Maternal Health Federal Policy Collective, National Newcomer Network, and others.
- For more about TCF’s rapid growth and policy impact under Mark’s leadership, see its most recent annual reports in 2023, 2022, and 2021.
“Serving as TCF’s president over the last decade has been one of the great honors of my life, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished together,” said TCF President Mark Zuckerman. “TCF staff bring passion, creativity, skill, and humanity to their work every day fighting for equity and fairness. Because of them, and the foundation we’ve built together, Century is stronger, more strategic, and more impactful than at any time in our history. Whoever is fortunate enough to lead this institution going forward is in the best of hands.”
Zuckerman assumed leadership of TCF in 2015, after serving in the Obama White House as deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. Prior to that, he was staff director of the House Education and Labor Committee, where he helped win passage of landmark legislation such as the Affordable Care Act; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act; and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
TCF’s Board of Trustees has retained Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading executive search firm, to conduct a thorough and inclusive nationwide search to identify TCF’s next leader. To inquire about the role or recommend someone for consideration, email [email protected].
Tags: about tcf, Mark Zuckerman, TCF news
Mark Zuckerman, TCF’s Long-Serving President, to Step Down in Early 2025
The Century Foundation (TCF) announced today that Mark Zuckerman has decided to step down as president of TCF around March 2025, a position he will have held for ten years. TCF’s Board of Trustees, led by Chairman Bradley Abelow, will oversee the leadership transition process, with the goal of having a new president in place by early spring.
Founded in 1919, TCF has reclaimed its legacy as a leading progressive policy organization under Mark’s leadership. In recent years, Century has experienced significant growth in both staff and budget; increased its influence on Capitol Hill and in state and local legislatures; and built out new, diverse policy teams of leading experts who have won major progressive victories, from protecting the Affordable Care Act, to leading the fight to secure $800+ billion in expanded aid to unemployed workers during the pandemic, to sounding the alarm about the nation’s fiscal “child care cliff.”
“The Century Foundation is a different institution than when Mark became president,” said TCF Board Chairman Bradley Abelow. “Under Mark’s leadership, we have focused on a set of core policy areas and deepened our teams, strengthened our financial footing, and dramatically increased TCF’s impact. The Board is more optimistic than ever about the future of Century, and we cannot thank Mark enough for his leadership in getting us to where we are today.”
Highlights of Mark’s tenure as TCF president include:
“Serving as TCF’s president over the last decade has been one of the great honors of my life, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished together,” said TCF President Mark Zuckerman. “TCF staff bring passion, creativity, skill, and humanity to their work every day fighting for equity and fairness. Because of them, and the foundation we’ve built together, Century is stronger, more strategic, and more impactful than at any time in our history. Whoever is fortunate enough to lead this institution going forward is in the best of hands.”
Zuckerman assumed leadership of TCF in 2015, after serving in the Obama White House as deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. Prior to that, he was staff director of the House Education and Labor Committee, where he helped win passage of landmark legislation such as the Affordable Care Act; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act; and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
TCF’s Board of Trustees has retained Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading executive search firm, to conduct a thorough and inclusive nationwide search to identify TCF’s next leader. To inquire about the role or recommend someone for consideration, email [email protected].
Tags: about tcf, Mark Zuckerman, TCF news