Press Release: 1/14/2025

Barr Foundation Jim Canales to Conclude 11-Year Tenure As President by End of 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:

Stefan Lanfer, Director of Communications 617-854-3139

slanfer@barrfoundation.org

January 13, 2025

Will Succeed Co-Founder Barbara W. Hostetter as Chair of the Board of Trustees Upon Installation of New President

BOSTON — The Barr Foundation’s Board of Trustees announced today that Barr President Jim Canales, who has led the organization through a decade of extraordinary growth and established Barr as one of the region’s preeminent philanthropic partners, will step into a new leadership role as Chair of the Board of Trustees by the end of 2025 upon selection and installation of a new president.

In assuming the volunteer chair of the board role, Canales, 58, will succeed Founding Board Chair and Barr Foundation Co-Founder Barbara W. Hostetter. During 2025, as she continues as board chair, Hostetter will lead the search for a new president. The board search committee will consist of Barr trustees Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Mark Edwards, Tracy Palandjian, Caroline Walsh, and Jim Canales. The Board has retained the global executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to guide a national search, which will launch later this month.

“For over a decade, Jim has brought his wisdom, integrity, and passion for effective philanthropy to the work of transforming the Barr Foundation into the organization it is today. His leadership through this crucial phase of Barr’s evolution has significantly deepened our impact, while simultaneously weaving the Barr Foundation into the civic fabric of Boston and communities across the region. What fellow trustees and I have valued the most about Jim’s leadership is the deep humility, authenticity, and care he brings to his stewardship of the Barr Foundation,” said Barr Foundation Board Chair and Co-Founder Barbara W. Hostetter. “As we look ahead to identifying Barr’s next president, with Jim continuing as our chair, the board’s steadfast commitment to building upon Barr’s existing work and upholding its values, in particular our emphasis on centering racial equity, continues with tremendous urgency. We are also resolved that Barr remains adaptive and responsive to new challenges and opportunities, and our new president will inherit a talented staff with deep, trusting relationships in communities where Barr works, and a well-resourced institution ready to meet this moment.”

“It has been an enormous privilege to lead the Barr Foundation during the past decade, working closely with Barbara and Amos Hostetter to ensure that Barr fulfilled the promise of their vision for Barr’s impact. I have especially valued the opportunity to learn from Barr’s many partners, whose commitment is inspiring and whose work makes a difference in our communities,” added Jim Canales, President and Trustee of the Barr Foundation. “Being entrusted with the leadership of the board at this juncture in Barr’s evolution is an honor. I join the full board in eagerly anticipating the arrival of Barr’s next president, who will no doubt lead an outstanding team of Barr colleagues to the next level of impact and effectiveness.”

Board Evolution

The appointment of Canales to the role of board chair reflects a significant milestone in Barr’s ongoing evolution from a family to a legacy philanthropy. Since its founding in 1997, the Barr Foundation has been guided by the visionary leadership of Board Chair and Co-Founder Barbara W. Hostetter. As she hands off the chair role and remains a trustee along with Barr Co-Founder Amos B. Hostetter, Jr., Canales will become the first non-family member to serve as chair. Beginning in 2026, Canales will devote additional time to his existing responsibilities as a managing director of Pilot House Associates, the Hostetter’s family office.

Barr Growth and Impact

Under Canales’ leadership, Barr has grown the scope and scale of its grantmaking and honed its values, mission, and core issue areas.

Since his arrival in 2014, the professional staff has grown from 19 to 48 today, and Barr’s total annual grantmaking has more than doubled from $55 million to $130 million in 2024.Canales led work to more clearly define Barr’s core programs in Arts, Education, and Climate, as well as launching two special initiatives: one focused on an accessible and resilient waterfront in Greater Boston, and a second on advancing racial wealth equity. During this time, Canales has also overseen significant investment in Barr’s own capabilities and operations, enabling it to deliver on its mission and serve its partners more effectively.

Canales has been integral in elevating Barr’s broader presence in the region’s civic and philanthropic community, bringing Barr’s voice and leadership to the public square, speaking up for its values, and elevating its partners and the communities they serve. Throughout Canales’ tenure, Barr has sought to amplify the work of its grantees, draw attention to the significant challenges and opportunities facing the region, share lessons from its own work as a philanthropic institution pointing both to successes and failures, and bring greater transparency to Barr’s work.

Meeting Times of Change and Adversity

In addition to overseeing Barr’s tremendous growth, Canales has also guided Barr and supported its grantees through challenging moments while maintaining a commitment to Barr’s values.

Following the 2016 presidential election, amid dramatic shifts in the national context, increased polarization, and growing concerns about threats to certain communities and democratic institutions, Barr launched new grantmaking efforts focused on protecting immigrants, supporting and protecting journalists and independent journalism, and other select projects to bolster democracy, with close to $7 million in funding in 2017 and 2018.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic created acute challenges for Barr’s grantees and the communities they serve, Barr pivoted its approach and directed resources – including nearly $20 million within the first year of the pandemic – to rapid response efforts addressing emergency needs and supporting vaccine education and outreach.

Civic Leadership

Throughout his tenure, Canales has also held a number of civic leadership roles. At former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s invitation, he co-chaired the Leadership Council of Boston Creates, which led to the first-ever cultural plan for the City of Boston. In 2023, current Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appointed Canales to serve as a trustee of the Boston Public Library.

He also currently serves as a trustee of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Eastern Bank Foundation, and as vice-chair of KFF, a leading health policy organization. His leadership in the civic and philanthropic arena has been recognized by regional media and civic organizations including Boston Magazine’s Most Influential Bostonians, Amplify LatinX’s ALX100 List, and The NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50.

Canales is a national thought leader in the field of social impact and philanthropy, and he has been published in The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review, among other outlets.

His past board service includes a ten-year term as a Stanford University trustee, and service as chair of the boards of the College Futures Foundation, KQED Public Broadcasting, the Stanford Alumni Association, and Larkin Street Youth Services. He is also the co-founder and former board chair of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.

Personal Information

A native San Franciscan, Canales received both his undergraduate degree in English and graduate degree in Education from Stanford University. He started his career as a high school English teacher, before shifting to what has been a several-decade career in philanthropy. During the past 31 years, Canales has worked at two foundations: The James Irvine Foundation in California, which he joined in 1993 and where he served as president and CEO from 2003-2014; and the Barr Foundation, which he joined as president and trustee in 2014. Canales and his husband, Jim McCann, reside in downtown Boston.

About the Barr Foundation

The Barr Foundation’s mission is to invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts. Based in Boston, Barr focuses regionally, and selectively engages nationally, working in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, the public sector, and civic and business leaders to elevate the arts, advance solutions for climate change, and enable all students to discover and actualize their unbounded potential. Founded in 1997, Barr is now one of the largest private foundations in New England, with assets over $2.8 billion, and it has contributed more than $1.5 billion to charitable causes since inception. For more information, visit barrfoundation.org.