Perth and New York are about as far apart as cities go, geographically speaking at least. So it’s going to be a big change for Meg McDonald (above), who is heading for the Big Apple (The Note wonders why our city doesn’t get a nickname like that?) after being named president of the Alcoa Foundation, the second largest corporate foundation in the United States. Following a distinguished career in the Australian diplomatic service, Ms McDonald joined Alcoa in 2002 as general manager of corporate affairs in Australia. The Alcoa Foundation is seen as a global leader in corporate philanthropy and last year distributed almost US$40 million in ‘community giving’ grants to community organisations and programs, research projects and disaster relief in more than 30 countries. Ms McDonald succeeds Kathleen W. Buechel, former president and treasurer of Alcoa Foundation, who will retire after a 25-year career with Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation.
