Less than four months after John Brothers arrived in Sarasota to lead the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, the organization is changing course again.

The board of directors has appointed John Annis as interim President and CEO. "The board and staff here are fully focused on continuing the foundation’s good work in the community with no disruption. We’ll share an update on the process for identifying our next permanent leader when the time is right,” Barancik Foundation chief communications and learning officer Greg Luberecki  wrote in an email. 

Annis, a longtime community leader who had recently moved into a senior advisor role as part of a phased retirement plan, says he was asked to step in after the board determined Brothers “wasn’t a long-term fit.” The reasons behind the decision remain unknown.

“They approached me to step in, which I’m excited to do, because we’ve got an amazing team," Annis says. "We’ve got wonderful partners. Any opportunity to continue the great work that [the Barancik Foundation] has been doing for more than a decade now is a thrill for me.”

The Barancik Foundation is a private institution that makes grants to local nonprofits and community initiatives in areas such as education, humanitarian needs, arts and culture, the environment and medical research. Its work has included support for early-childhood efforts, like First 1,000 Days Suncoast, along with broader investments in schools and local civic life. The foundation stewards roughly $700 million in assets.

For community partners and grantees, Annis says, the message is continuity. “Everything’s the same, nothing changed,” he says. “You have grant applications. We go to a committee meeting. We go to a board meeting. There’s nothing for anyone to worry about.”

He adds that, because of the foundation’s succession planning, the transition didn’t require a scramble inside the organization. 

Brothers had been announced last fall as the successor to the Barancik Foundation's founding president and CEO, Teri Hansen, whose retirement ended her decade-long run leading one of the region’s most influential philanthropic institutions.

Brothers moved to Sarasota from Baltimore, where he had led the T. Rowe Price Foundation and T. Rowe Price Charitable for nearly a decade, overseeing philanthropic work. In an interview last year, he told us he had no “list of sweeping changes” for the foundation and that “the biggest sign of success will be my ability to listen.”

Brothers was not available for comment about the news.

The timeline on seeking a permanent replacement hasn’t been determined yet. For now, Annis says, the foundation’s staff and systems remain in place, and he doesn’t expect any major near-term changes.