Anna Lefer Kuhn, Executive Director

A recognized leader in philanthropy and the progressive movement, Anna Lefer Kuhn was appointed Executive Director of the Arca Foundation in 2008. With a history of leadership by trailblazing women executive directors, Arca supports innovative and strategic efforts that advance equity, accountability, social justice and participatory democracy in the US and abroad. Prior to Arca, Anna dedicated her career to centralizing the role of diverse young people in social change movements. As a Program Officer at the Open Society Institute (OSI), Anna conceived of and led a multi-year, $8 million initiative that helped to build a movement of progressive young activists leading change on critical issues. In addition, Anna coordinated OSI’s Youth Media Program, a six-year, $12 million initiative that provided low-income youth with opportunities to affect public debate and to develop critical thinking and communication skills.

A committed activist, Anna has served on boards of a number of organizations, including the White House Project, the Urban Justice Center and the League of Young Voters; and she is on the advisory boards of the Youth Engagement Fund, a project she launched with the Democracy Alliance, the Drum Major Institute Scholars Program and Generation Change, a project of the Center for Community Change. Anna is a graduate of Wesleyan University, and was a member of the 2004-2005 class of Coro Leadership New York.

Anna lives in Washington DC with her husband Jonathan, an architect, and their two children.

Emily Casteel, Program Associate

Beverly Halton, Administrator

Nancy R. Bagley, President

Ms. Bagley is a granddaughter of the Arca Foundation’s founder, Nancy Susan Reynolds, and serves as President of the Arca Foundation. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Washington Life Magazine. She previously served as Coordinator of Corporate Communications for B.M.G. Entertainment in New York City. At the height of the Clinton Administration’s efforts to address health issues, Ms. Bagley worked on health care reform, first in the Public Liaison Office of the White House and then at the Democratic National Committee. Nancy also serves as a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in North Carolina.

Nicole Bagley, Vice President
Celebrity Service International

Mary E. King, Secretary
Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University for Peace, an affiliate of the UN. Distinguished Scholar, The American University Center for Global Peace, Washington, DC. Rothermere American Institute Fellow, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

The Rev. Joseph Eldridge
Chaplain, American University Kay Spiritual Life Center

Mike Lux
Progressive Strategies, LLC

Janet Shenk
Panta Rhea Foundation

Margery Tabankin
Tabankin & Associates

Smith Bagley, In Memoriam


Michael B. Trister, Esq., Legal Counsel