The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation has named an interim president
The nonprofit fundraising arm for the Free Library has been without a president since September.
The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation has chosen a new leader, for now.
Priscilla Suero, currently the first deputy director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, has been appointed interim president of the foundation, its board announced Friday. Her tenure will begin Monday at the library’s nonprofit fundraising arm.
The foundation’s previous president, Monique Moore Pryor, abruptly resigned in September to attend to family matters. The board will begin a search for a permanent president following the completion of a strategic planning process in the spring, it said.
“I am honored to serve the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation and I thank the Board of Directors for entrusting me with this responsibility,” Suero said in a statement.
“I look forward to strengthening their partnership between the Library and Foundation for the benefit of the people of Philadelphia,” she said.
In Suero’s role at the Free Library, where she has been since 2022 according to LinkedIn, she worked closely with the foundation and oversaw the library’s operating budget, operations and strategic planning. She has previously worked for the city’s Office of Children and Families and the Mayor’s Office of Education, as well as other foundations.
“Priscilla is uniquely prepared to lead the Foundation at this important moment,” D. Jeffry Benoliel, chairman of the Foundation’s board, said in the statement.
“Her executive experience, trusted relationships with funders, donors, and civic stakeholders, and her leadership of the strategic planning process will help the Foundation build on recent successes and expand its support for the Library and the people it serves,” he said.
Pryor became the foundation’s first executive leader when she was appointed in 2023, and is credited with diversifying its donor base and overseeing the Free Library’s return to regular weekend service. But her tenure was also marked by controversy. Her leadership style led to the resignation and then firing of the foundation’s Author Events team in 2024, according to staff.
At least 10 other foundation staff members were fired or have quit in the last year, and the foundation had become a dysfunctional working environment at times, some former staff members said.
The foundation’s strategic planning process has been more drawn out than initially planned, for reasons that are unclear. The foundation received a $1 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts in July 2023 to develop a strategic plan over the following three years, but Pew has since granted an extension.
