Meet Rhea Suh

The opening line of the job description that was posted in late 2020 for a new President and CEO of MCF read: “The MCF Board seeks a bold and strategic leader to lead the organization forward at a most transformational time.” 

With the appointment of Rhea Suh to the role in September 2021, MCF achieved its goal – and then some. She brings more than 25 years of philanthropic, environmental and public policy experience to the position and now oversees one of the largest community foundations in the world, managing more than $3 billion in assets. 
 
Prior to joining MCF, Rhea served as the third president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), where under her leadership, the organization grew by more than $50 million and increased its membership by more than 40 percent. Over her four and a half year tenure, she led the creation of a new ten-year strategic plan; established a new internal organizational structure; helped steer high-level discussions that led to the historic global climate agreement in Paris; championed a precedent-setting settlement for the residents of Flint, Michigan, to ensure an end to the city’s toxic drinking water crisis; and was a featured speaker at the 2017 Women’s March on Washington, D.C. 
 
Before joining NRDC, Rhea served as the assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior. She was nominated for the position by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009. She led several cross-cutting initiatives at the department including establishing a successful diversity program for the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, leading the inter-agency Wildland Fire national coordinating body, and creating the first-ever national strategy for federal land acquisition. With her diverse portfolio, she also led the Administration’s successful effort to create a federal recognition effort for the Native Hawaiian community. In 2011, she co-led the complex reorganization of the agency responsible for offshore oil and gas oversight in the midst of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.   
 
Prior to her appointment to the Interior Department, Rhea worked at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, where she created and managed a $200 million program dedicated to environmental conservation and clean energy in the West. She developed similarly far-reaching environmental programs at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. 
 
Rhea earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Barnard College and a master's degree in education, administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. She also received a Fulbright Fellowship to Seoul, South Korea. 
 
Rhea was born in Boulder, Colorado and spends as much time as she can with her daughter enjoying the great outdoors – particularly catch-and-release flyfishing in remote locations.