This was originally posted to the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation website October 13, 2025, when I announced my plans to step down and make space for new leadership. Now that I have officially ended my tenure at the Foundation I thought it made sense to repost to my personal blog. Excited about what the future holds for me, and also look forward to following the next phase of the foundation as it continues to serve the community. (Apologies for any formatting challenges in transferring this post!) After more than twelve years leading the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, I have decided it is time to move on, and it has been announced that a search process is underway to identify my successor. I will stay on through the process to ensure a smooth transition. I am excited about what the future holds for the Foundation and the opportunity for new leadership. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished at the Foundation since I arrived in 2013. This has been made possible by an extraordina...
[Note - this reflection was originally published in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation blog and newsletter last year. With the summer of 2024 coming up, seemed like a good time to re-share.] Last summer I had the gift of being able to take a month-long sabbatical. (Thank you , Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Board of Directors!) This program was put in place by the Foundation in 2019 and made available to all employees (not just the CEO) but due to COVID all the employees eligible for sabbaticals had to delay taking them for three years. Our program allows for four weeks at seven years of employment. It does not require any explicit work-related learning activities, but it is totally flexible and up to the employee to choose how to use it. To be honest, I had not taken more than two weeks off from work in my entire adult working life (which is more decades tha n I care to admit). And as in the case of most folks, the decision of what to do became a family conversation...