Moving on

So...first the short, bullet-points information and then the backstory:

• After three years, I will be stepping down from the Executive Director position at Joel's Place, effective next Friday.
• Kelli Boyle will become the new ED
• Leah Byam will become the new Program Director
• I will be joining the Board of Directors and working over at Morningstar Ranch

Now...for the rest of the story:

This past November I was spending some time praying about life and Joel's Place and I heard God say that I was just about done with my time here.  I've heard that call before and it usually comes a couple of months before the begin of a substantial life transition.  So I watched and I waited and I started looking for what would be happening next.

What I saw was that it would be a good step for me to transition onto the Board of Directors for a couple of substantial reasons: Organizational Development and Leadership Development. 

As far as Organizational Development is concerned, Joel's Place has been in a transition process for the past few years from a small, family-style business into a broader, community-driven outreach.  That was the transition that I was hired to facilitate and that is where we find ourselves after these three years.  Now we need some new vision.  I have ideas...lots and lots of ideas and the best place to work through those ideas and their corresponding requirements is on the Board of Directors.  I won't bore you with the By-law changes and policy tweaks and committee meetings that I want to see.  The short story is that I have a lot of big picture ideas that will be better coming from the Board and being implemented by another ED.  Speaking of which...

As I contemplated moving onto the Board, the very first factor that I considered was who would take my place.  Ideas from the Board are great, but if there is not a staff member who is able to take ideas and make them become reality, then it is wasted time and energy.  (Side note: Kelli, you probably want to stop reading now.  You will probably get embarrassed by all the nice things I'm going to say about you.)   Kelli has volunteered, served as Board President and began working for Joel's Place as Program Director a little before I started.  She is smart, funny, in-charge without being oppressive and deeply loves these kids.  She had never seriously considered being an ED but she is going to be amazing.  We have talked a lot over vision and spreadsheets and grant writing and fundraising.  I will still be around if she hits a steep patch of the learning curve.  Kelli will be sensational at training our staff to love with grace and accountability.  She is outstanding at managing the business side of the non-profit and making sure that the revenue-generating programs actually generate revenue.  Did I mention that the kids love her back?  And she just received her first grant (see above).  There is no one better qualified to take over the reigns at the moment, who knows the strengths and weaknesses of Joel's Place better than her.  I am excited about what this opportunity will do for Joel's Place and I am excited for what this opportunity will do for Kelli.

Stepping into Kelli's old position will be Leah, who just graduated from college and has been working/volunteering here for years and years and years and years.  She is highly skilled, highly competent, highly creative and deeply beloved by our members.  She is ready for this new challenge and the transition will be remarkably smooth.

So I have one more week left here before fully diving into Morningstar (a non-profit that provides respite services and vocational/educational training to people/families with disabilities).  I'm sure I will take some time next Friday to write some reflections about the past three years.  If you have any questions or comments you are more than welcome to write or call and we can talk things through. 

Blessings upon you all,

James