Dear GWP members,
Happy New Year to everyone! I hope your holiday break was restful and restorative.
I write to let you know that after 14 years at GWP, Barb has let the board know she plans to step down as executive director within the coming year. As she notes below, the exact timing is flexible, but we expect it will be during the fourth quarter of 2022. Both Barb and the board share the goal of using this time to ensure that GWP is in a strong position when it welcomes its next CEO.
GWP’s board has begun to assemble a strategic planning committee which will begin work early in 2022, refining GWP’s strategic framework while maintaining flexibility for Barb’s successor. Parallel to that process, we are also setting up a succession/ search committee, which will ramp up in the second quarter of 2022 to engage a search firm and eventually make recommendations to the board.
We have a very strong commitment to including a diverse set of voices in these conversations, and we trust that this commitment will lead us to a stable transition to our new CEO. We know that many members will be willing to help the board as we move through this transition, and we appreciate that greatly.
Please be assured that the GWP board stands ready to answer any questions as we carry out this leadership transition. I encourage you to be in touch with me or another member of the GWP board with any questions or feedback. Regular updates will be posted on GWP’s website on this page.
We look forward to keeping you apprised of our progress. Thank you, as always, for your membership in GWP.
Ken Spruill, President
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Dear GWP members,
I write this note with gratitude as well as a tinge of sadness. After 14 years at GWP, the timing is right for me to make way for new leadership.
With a strong team in place, a strategic review early this year, a new home at Gateway and the possibility of returning to in-person gatherings, it’s an exciting time for GWP. I have told the board my departure date can be flexible so that the transition is driven not by a particular date, but by whatever is best for GWP. My hope is that a thoughtful leadership transition will create an opportunity for the network to re-imagine its role in supporting philanthropy so that our members’ work can be even more effective.
Whoever is GWP’s next CEO, he or she will have the advantage of working with an experienced, engaged board of directors and a first-rate team. In the coming months I will work closely with the board, consultants and staff to ensure a smooth transition and to maintain our service to members.
While I know it will be painful to say goodbye to GWP, I also know in my heart it is the right time for me to step aside. I’m thinking of this change not as a retirement, but as an opening for me to identify the next ways in which I might contribute to the region.
Serving as GWP’s executive director has been an honor and I am very proud of the work our team has done. With your continued involvement, I am sure that GWP can look forward to even greater progress in the months and years ahead. Thank you again for your support of GWP!
With warm wishes,
Barb
