One of Arizona’s largest philanthropic organizations, the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, has named local charity veteran Steve Zabilski as its new president and CEO.

Zabilski, who has led the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul for 25 years, assumes the role on April 1, 2023, succeeding current president and CEO Mary Jane Rynd, who will retire but continue to serve on the Trust’s audit and investment committees.

At St. Vincent de Paul, Zabilski expanded the group’s mission and services, doubling its health clinic space to treat more people, operating dining rooms that provide meals every day and establishing a transitional shelter and resource center.

Before joining St. Vincent de Paul, he served as a senior vice president at Transamerica Insurance Group and as an audit manager of KPMG Peat Marwick. Zabilski also has served as a Piper trustee for 17 years.

“As I am coming from an organization that has been a recipient of the Trust’s generosity, I feel I can add insight about what it is like to be a grantee and partner,” he said in a prepared statement.

Rynd praised Zabilski’s appointment and expressed pride in the Trust’s accomplishments during the pandemic and recent period of serious social unrest.

In September 2021, the Trust distributed $123 million to 71 Maricopa County nonprofits in the largest single-day grantmaking move in the state's history. The grants were made from investment earnings.

Rynd joined the Piper Trust in 2001 as its first chief financial officer, rising to executive vice president. She became president and CEO of the Phoenix-based organization in 2018.

The Piper Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being and opportunity for residents of Maricopa County. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, the trust has invested more than $684 million in nonprofits and programs, focusing on needs in and for health care, medical research, children, older adults, art, culture, education and religious groups.

Before joining the trust, Rynd was a partner at KPMG and a founding partner at the accounting firm Rynd, Carneal & Ewing. She also worked with Virginia Galvin Piper, serving as her tax adviser and helping her establish a charitable legacy.

Separately, the trust named three new trustees to its expanded board: Lori Higuera, assistant general counsel for employment at Freeport-McMoRan; Paul Mulligan, president and CEO of Catholic Charities Community Services; and Ed Zuercher, former Phoenix city manager and a managing director at Ernst & Young.

Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Steve Zabliski to lead Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust in Arizona