Alex Amouyel was unveiled as the incoming president and chief executive officer at the Newman’s Own Foundation in Westport, Connecticut. She’ll join the organization in April. The foundation was established by actor, racecar driver, and philanthropist Paul Newman to carry on his legacy of giving away 100% of profits from Newman’s Own food and beverages.
Amouyel will succeed Miriam E. Nelson, who is retiring after three years at the foundation. Amouyel has experience in philanthropy and impact investing in underserved communities. She has more than 15 years of experience in social impact work, with a record of supporting social innovators around learning, health, and economic development, including with U.S. Indigenous communities.
She is the outgoing executive director of MIT Solve, where the mission is to drive innovation to solve world challenges. Amouyel previously was the director of program for the Clinton Global Initiative. She also worked for Save the Children International in London and across Asia, the Middle East, and Haiti, and at the Boston Consulting Group.
“I have been so inspired by the work of Newman’s Own Foundation,” Amouyel said via a statement, “in particular, their collaborative and trusting approach with partners, and I look forward to continuing Paul Newman’s legacy of ‘giving it all away’ to support impactful organizations.”
Newman created Newman’s Own Foundation in 2005 to continue giving away 100% of profits and royalties from the sale of Newman’s Own food and beverages, something he had been doing since the founding in 1982 of Newman’s Own, Inc. As of 2022, more than $600 million has been donated to good causes, especially to help kids who face adversity, according to data from the organization.
It has been a rocky few years at the foundation. Two of Newman’s daughters sued the foundation this past August alleging the actor’s dying wishes were being ignored and they were being pushed out of decisions about how the proceeds of his business are donated. Newman stipulated in his will that the daughters would each get $400,000 annually from the foundation to give to charities of their own choosing. That was reportedly cut to $200,000 each.
Nelson had been acting president of Newman’s Own Foundation from January to December 2020 and was appointed CEO and president of the foundation in January 2021. She replaced Jennifer Smith Turner who was appointed interim president and CEO in July 2019 after the organization’s president, Robert Forrester, was removed by an independent special committee of its board of directors after complaints by employees.
The organization’s most recent federal Form 990-PF is for 2019 and showed total net assets of $224,392,996 and distributions of 15,659,038 on revenue of $24,628,713.
