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Lake Family Resource Center executive director receives sabbatical
Gloria Flaherty, received the sabbatical from The California Wellness Foundation.
Flaherty will take her sabbatical from Feb. 28 through July 6, 2011.
The Lake Family Resource Center Board of Directors has appointed Lisa Fronsman as interim executive director during Flaherty’s absence.
Fronsman currently serves as the nonprofit's director of finance and operations.
During her time off, Flaherty will take advantage of the time to take a road trip with her mother, reestablish her vegetable, herb and flower gardens, hike and camp, and spend time with her husband and family.
“This sabbatical is a gift that I never expected,” said Flaherty. “It is an opportunity to refresh and reenergize myself and focus priorities.”
The organization has worked hard over the past several years to build leadership within the organization so that it can sustain itself through management changes. Flaherty said this time will be an opportunity to test those systems.
“We have a very capable leadership team and staff, and our board of directors is strong, well-versed and well-trained in monitoring and oversight,” she said.
Eight nonprofit health-sector executives were recognized with The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) Sabbatical Program Award at an October luncheon ceremony in San Francisco. The leadership support program – now in its eighth year – provides eight organizations with grants of $35,000 each to cover salary and other expenses during their executive directors’ sabbaticals, which last a minimum of three months.
The eight executives who received the 2010 sabbatical award are David Ashby, New Morning Youth and Family Services in Placerville; Joan Benoît, Native American AIDS Project in San Francisco; Paula Cohen, Mendocino Coast Clinics in Fort Bragg; Margaret Diaz, Victor Valley Domestic Violence, Inc./“A Better Way” in Victorville; Gloria Flaherty, Lake Family Resource Center in Lake County; Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Community Coalition in Los Angeles; Abdi Mohamoud, Horn of Africa Community in San Diego; and Clare Mounteer, Monterey County Rape Crisis Center in Monterey.
“Executive directors at nonprofit health and human service organizations in California continue to face difficult challenges to meet ever-increasing demands for services in a funding environment that has been deeply impacted by the economic recession,” said Gary L. Yates, TCWF president and chief executive officer.
“The foundation developed the sabbatical program to prevent burnout, promote the health of these executives and provide an opportunity to strengthen these organizations,” Yates said. “We are pleased to recognize these eight dedicated individuals.”
The program was created to support nonprofit leaders and seeks to improve the long-term effectiveness of health-focused nonprofits by providing their executives with the rest they need to continue to direct their organizations’ missions.
Each organization receives $30,000 to cover its leader’s salary during the sabbatical, plus an additional $5,000 to cover expenses related to the professional development of managers and staff who will assume extra responsibilities during their leader’s absence.
Each of the 2010 sabbatical honorees has served in the nonprofit sector for at least 12 years, and most have worked in their current roles as lead executives of health-focused organizations for many years without a significant break.
“These executives have worked selflessly for years in the nonprofit health sector, with little time for rest, reflection or rejuvenation,” said Sandra J. Martínez, TCWF program director. “By recognizing their leadership and supporting their organizations during the sabbaticals, the foundation is helping the safety net improve the health of diverse California communities, now and in the future.”
The California Wellness Foundation is a private independent foundation created in 1992 with a mission to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention.
The foundation prioritizes eight issues for funding: diversity in the health professions, environmental health, healthy aging, mental health, teenage pregnancy prevention, violence prevention, women’s health, and work and health. It also responds to timely issues and special projects outside the funding priorities.
Since its founding in 1992, TCWF has awarded 5,828 grants totaling more than $735 million.
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