To Our NWYS Community,
The NWYS Board of Directors is pleased to announce Lance E. Jones will serve as our interim CEO. Lance has been serving on the NWYS Board since May 2024 and will shift his focus to leading NWYS while we search for a permanent CEO. The Board has also engaged Dean Wight, a former NWYS interim leader, to assist with operational support during this transitional period. You can learn more about Lance and Dean on our website here.
Organizational transitions present both challenges and opportunities. While we work to steady our ship, we are confident that our interim team, together with the continued commitment and dedication of our amazing staff, will navigate us thoughtfully through challenges and find ways to uplift each other and our mission in the process. The heart of Northwest Youth Services—our mission to affirm youth experience and autonomy, as we work together to foster collective healing and justice, in order to dismantle the systems of oppression that perpetuate youth homelessness – remains our guiding star.
As the board engages and partners with the interim leadership team over the coming weeks, we are also beginning the search process for our permanent CEO. As we do this, we are listening. We are listening to the youth we serve, our staff, our supporters, our volunteers, and our community. We are committed to designing our hiring process to be as inclusive as possible of all these important voices. This will be part of regular outreach and communication with the community in the coming months.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our mission and core values. The work we do is never easy, but it is critically important. Together, we will remain steadfast as we affirm youth experience and autonomy and work to foster collective healing and justice.
In service,
NWYS Board of Directors:
Michelle Harmeier
Aaron Vahid
Clare McFrazier
Richard Clough
Kate Bauer-Jones
Bill Hayward
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