Snowden to retire from Boston Foundation

Banner Staff

Gail Snowden, who has served as vice president for finance and operation at the Boston Foundation since 2004, will retire in September, the Foundation announced last Thursday.

Former senior director for finance, controller and longtime Foundation staff member Hope Groves has been named the Foundation’s new chief financial officer.

A veteran of the banking industry and nationally recognized leader in urban community development, Snowden joined the Foundation’s senior management staff after a long career capped by a position as executive vice president of Bank of America. She also formerly served as president of the FleetBoston Financial Foundation.

“Gail brought to the Foundation an incomparable record of accomplishment in the corporate and civic spheres,” said Paul S. Grogan, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “Personally and in her career, she represents a deep commitment to a progressive and inclusive civic culture. We are all grateful for her vision and for her many contributions to this organization, both as a board member and as part of our senior management team.”

Snowden had a long personal connection to the Foundation. When she became a member of the Foundation’s board of directors in 2002, she took a place formerly occupied by her mother, Muriel Snowden, a celebrated community advocate and leader who founded the community center Freedom House with her husband, Otto Snowden, in 1949.

After retiring from her banking career, which began at the Bank of Boston in 1968, Grogan recruited Snowden to step down from the Foundation’s board and join its staff. She has been widely recognized for her innovative achievements in bringing financial services to those most in need, notably receiving the White House Ron Brown Award for advocating for the needs of minority and low-income constituents.

Snowden has been a frequent member of lists identifying leaders and achievers, appearing as one of Dollars and Sense magazine’s “Top Business and Professional Women,” one of the region’s 100 most influential women in the pages of Boston magazine, and one of Ebony magazine’s 50 African American women at the top in corporate America. She has received numerous honorary doctorates, including one from Simmons College, where she earned an M.B.A. She is a graduate of Harvard/Radcliffe College.

“While I am excited about the next chapter of my life, this change represents a major milestone for me,” said Snowden. “It has been an honor and a unique opportunity to be able to have a personal role in an institution with the history and impact of the Boston Foundation.”