Dear GOALS family,
As you know, we’ve had some big leadership changes in the past few months. Jolinda did an amazing job recruiting a one-of-a-kind Country Director, James, before she stepped down as Executive Director in December.
For the Board of Directors, knowing that Jolinda was stepping down was daunting. She is irreplaceable, dearly loved, and leaves very big shoes to fill. That is why it is so exciting for me to introduce you to our new Impact Director, Kathy McAllister. Together, Kathy and James are our new executive leadership team, and with two phenomenal new directors at the helm, we couldn’t be more excited about GOALS’ future.
In joining GOALS, Kathy brings with her an impressive list of accomplishments: she first lived in Haiti as a Peace Corps volunteer and went on to found a Haiti-based nonprofit organization. She has over ten years of nonprofit experience, ranging from grassroots organizations to multi-million dollar foundations. Her work has included strategic planning, finance and administration, fundraising, and communications. Most importantly of all, she has a deep-seated love of Haiti based on her personal experiences, her work, and her impressive expertise. Kathy writes:
"Working with GOALS is an exciting opportunity for me as it allows me to use my experience and skills for a program that I know is helping kids to actively engage in a positive way in their communities. The development through sports program is fostering individual leadership and good health while mentoring volunteerism and community development. Along with James Louis-Charles, I look forward to continuing the great work that has been established by the founder and Board Chair Kona Shen and the previous Executive Director Jolinda Hackett."
Kathy began in January, and she has hit the ground running in a truly impressive way. She immediately helped us increase our capacity in innumerable ways, and I have no doubt that she is going to help GOALS improve as an organization.
We have always prided ourselves at GOALS for prioritizing our programs, our local staff, and our results in rural Haiti. Until now, we have never had an employee based full-time in the United States. As GOALS prepares to turn seven, the Board felt strongly that this was the right time to invest more fully in our U.S.-based operations, many of which are impossible to manage in Leogane, Haiti.
One of Kathy’s primary roles can be described as this: to dramatically improve how we measure, share, and support our programs for children in rural Haiti. She will wear multiple hats, from Chief Storyteller to Development Officer. As an organization, we care about your experience as a member of “Team GOALS.” We want to know about how we can improve your experience as a donor, and what questions you may have about our impact. These questions will guide much of Kathy’s work in her first year, and we hope you will reach out to her directly with your thoughts.
On that note, thank you for your ongoing support of GOALS. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Kathy as our phenomenal new Impact Director, and I look forward to sharing our results as we work together to make GOALS better than ever before.
With love,
Kona
Founder & Board Chair