A message from Alice Conway, on new and interim leadership for NCCJ St. Louis

Last month at our Board meeting, we voted to have the Executive Committee and HR Committee serve as the Transition Team in the wake of David Martineau's resignation. We have worked closely with Dave to chart a carefully considered course of action to navigate the transition. Yesterday, we met via conference call to consider and take initial steps on a proposal for a three-part transition plan:

Shore up the staffing model we have been using to staff the organization to ensure program and operational stability.
Select interim leadership from half-dozen candidates put forth by board members, staff members, and community contacts.
Undertake search for new Executive Director once staffing is secured and interim leadership is in place.

With this framework in mind, I am pleased to inform you of the following actions taken by the Executive Committee:

Effective July 16, Dewitt Campbell will serve as full-time Program Director for NCCJ St. Louis. He has been serving part-time to manage NCCJ’s professional and community programs for the past three years, and he has been providing training for NCCJ since 2001. With this appointment, Dewitt will take on strategic oversight and direction of all NCCJ programs and supervision of all program staff, not only ensuring continuity for our current partners, but also growing NCCJ’s capacity for program service delivery. Dewitt can be reached at dewitt@nccjstl.org.
In recognition of Ro Kicker’s exemplary coordination and expansion of NCCJ’s youth programs, we have approved a promotion for Ro Kicker to Youth Program Manager, effective October 1, 2018. This position comes with a pay raise that makes this position competitive with peer positions at collateral organizations. Ro can be reached at ro@nccjstl.org.
Effective July 16, Gregory Donovan will serve as the Interim Director of NCCJ St. Louis. Gregory will step down from NCCJ’s Board of Directors, which he joined in 2015. He has served the past two years a treasurer, a role in which he has been instrumentally involved in the operational and business functions of the organization. This knowledge, combined with his expertise in managing people and teams at Wells Fargo Advisors, facilitates a stable transition for the organization. Gregory can be reached at gregory@nccjstl.org.

I hope you are able to join us this Thursday, 7/19, 5:30-7:30pm at the Contemporary Art Museum to say farewell to Dave and thank him for his service to NCCJ and the St. Louis community, and to meet and congratulate NCCJ's new and transitional leadership.

With these appointments in place to smooth the transition, we can shift our attention as a Board to undertaking a search for a new Executive Director that will lead NCCJ St. Louis into the future. The transition team will meet in two weeks to lay the foundation for the search. If you have any questions or concerns during this transition process, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at alice.e.conway@monsanto.com.