From the Desk of the (Interim) Executive Director…
Greetings to all of our friends and supporters!
First, a big thank you to the Board of Directors and the agency staff for welcoming me during this time of transition. Hiring a new executive director is a big challenge, and I am excited to serve as a leader and to help navigate the challenges and changes.
Often, during leadership transitions, the pace of work can slow to a crawl, but at Between Friends, this has absolutely not been the case. Our staff has continued serving our clients and the community by providing legal assistance to survivors, delivering high-quality, trauma-informed therapy and counseling to survivors and their children, and educating young people and the public at large in schools, at community events, and in other community spaces. In fact, our Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence award for this year was almost $200,000 more than last year! We are thrilled that we will be able continue our work and even expand our reach to serve more people.
Between Friends has also used this time during the executive search to assess and organize our internal structure to better support our programmatic needs. For example, we will be hiring an additional staff person to help manage our government contracts and will also be changing the roles and responsibilities of existing staff to improve agency operations and business functions.
I’ve been consistently amazed at how focused, dedicated, and driven everyone at this organization is to serve our clients and community. Staff truly are the engine that keeps this agency moving forward and each one of them does their best in service of our mission. I feel truly fortunate to have had this opportunity to serve Between Friends’ Board members, Advisory Council members, donors, staff, and allies.
One final thought: Our ability to not only persevere but also thrive during times depends on our connections with each other. You may have seen an invitation to our annual fundraiser, happening next week! We have some great restaurants providing small bites as well as some awesome raffle prizes that you could win. I hope to meet many of you in person at “An Evening with Friends” on July 25 at Room 1520 in the West Loop!
In Gratitude,
Shailushi