FCA Foundation names Estereicher as permanent CEO

Fiat Chrysler's U.S. unit has named Christine Estereicher to lead its corporate grantmaking arm, the FCA Foundation.

The appointment was made in October but not publicly announced.

Estereicher, who was also named director of state relations, civic engagement and external affairs for FCA US, was named interim CEO of the foundation in September.

The move came following the departure of Lesley Slavitt who had led the foundation since 2015.

Estereicher has been with the company that began as Chrysler for the past 20 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to being named to her current position, Estericher served as head of state and local government relations for FCA US for two years. She also served as senior manager of state relations and legislation for FCA's predecessor company, Chrysler LLC, and held related positions at DaimlerChrysler prior to that.

As head of the foundation, she will direct FCA's corporate grants, which totaled $4.2 million this year. About half of them were expected to be made in Southeastern Michigan and the remainder in other North American communities where the carmaker operates, the foundation said in September.