The Minnesota Council on Foundations has a new top leader.

Susan "Susie" Brown, the chief operations officer for the Minnesota State Bar, Hennepin County Bar and Ramsey County Bar associations and foundations, will be president of the organization, which is essentially the trade organization for Minnesota foundations. The council provides research, education and other services to its members.

Brown, who is also an adjunct faculty member at Hamline University teaching nonprofit management and governance, will start April 22.

She was picked after a national search for a replacement for Trista Harris, who led the council for five years and left last summer. Peg Birk, the CEO of Interim Solutions, a Minneapolis-based consulting firm that works with foundations, served as the interim president.

Brown previously worked as the public policy director at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and executive director for Child Care Works. She now serves on the Community Advisory Council of the Greater Twin Cities United Way and on the boards of the Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities and GrantAdvisor.