For the first time in two years, Real Change recently experienced some staff turnover and transitions. Our outstanding editor of four years, Amy Roe, accepted a position with Marguerite Casey Foundation as a reporter for its Equal Voice publication, leaving our newsroom with a sudden and unexpected leadership void. Simultaneously, in our vendor program, our program coordinator resigned at the same time that our program manager was preparing to go on maternity leave. Multiple staffing changes in a small organization can be destabilizing and threaten to derail progress. Instead, we have been able to put the pieces back together in a way that feels almost magical.
In his groundbreaking book “Good to Great,” Jim Collins calls for nonprofits to first get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Sometimes, he says, this means finding new people; other times it means trying out existing people in different positions. The past couple months Real Change has done some of each. And the result is an organization that’s poised to go from very, very good to truly great as we look toward 2015 and the implementation of a new strategic plan.
When Amy announced she was leaving the newsroom, our longtime assistant editor, Rosette Royale, stepped up to accept the position of interim editor for a six-month period, during which he will play a lead role in developing our 2015-2017 strategic plan. Increasing the collaboration within our paper, advocacy efforts and vendor program will be at the heart of our new plan, and Rosette is uniquely suited to help with that. He is a gifted writer, an excellent editor and a passionate advocate for our vendors. He is respected and trusted throughout the organization. Perhaps most important, he is passionate about Real Change as a whole and has great insight into how the paper serves our overall mission.
As Rosette steps into the editor role, he leaves behind a number of critical reporting and editing tasks that we needed to backfill. Through a series of fortunate events, we were able to quickly bring on a respected journalist and editor named George Howland Jr. George is exceptionally well qualified for the role. He has more than 22 years experience as an editor, reporter and commentator on a wide range of topics in Washington. He’s worked at the Seattle Channel, Seattle City Council, the Seattle Weekly and The Stranger. We are humbled by his interest in working for Real Change.
In the vendor program, we ran a competitive hiring process for a new program supervisor and the standout was a man named Jerred Clouse. He most recently worked at Catholic Community Services as a program supervisor for two countywide homeless service programs. Prior to that, he was a program coordinator for Friends of Youth. Jerred has extensive experience in staff supervision, program and budget management and community relations. He has excellent interpersonal and conflict de-escalation skills, and he speaks Spanish.
Getting the right people on the bus isn’t just about our staff. This spring, we doubled the size of our board of directors. We brought in a phenomenal new cohort of board members who immediately added diversity and expertise to our board. Two of our new board members are vendors, four of the seven are people of color and several bring deep experiences in areas of key organizational need including finance, communications and fundraising. Less than two years ago, we had to beg people to join our board; this year, with the help of consultants Julie Edsforth and Emily Anthony, we ran a competitive process and had to turn five people away. We have by far the strongest and most engaged board we’ve had during my five-year tenure at Real Change. I’m excited about what’s possible with their partnership.
Greatness begets greatness. Strong staff and board members are key to organizational success, and organizational success attracts great people. It feels like we are caught up in that upward spiral, and I am so proud to be a part of it.