The Board of Directors of Swan Valley Connections (SVC) is pleased to announce a new leadership team following the departure of Executive Director Rebecca Ramsey. The organization is restructuring to welcome three managing directors to lead SVC into a more sustainable future.
All three managing directors will guide the vision of the organization, with each managing director having an area of focus, and all three bearing responsibility for the success of programs, operations, and fundraising. The transition is in progress as of January 1, and will be complete by the end of February 2024. There will be a celebration of new leadership in February, with a date yet to be determined.
Luke Lamar, longtime conservation director for SVC, will focus on conservation and operations. Sara Lamar, who has been the education director for SVC for four years and has served in numerous roles with the organization prior to her rise to leadership, will focus on educational programming, external connections and board management.
Newcomer William “Ty” Tyler will round out the team with a focus on fundraising and business development. Ty comes from a lifelong career in conservation nonprofits, most recently serving as the National Stewardship Director at the Access Fund.
The Board spent five months researching shared leadership models, a trend sweeping both for-profit and nonprofit organizations alike. This model demonstrates the collaborative nature at the core of SVC’s work by having joint leadership and decision making internally and externally. The concept allows for greater resilience and work-life balance, and replaces the traditional hierarchical system.
“We believe that we have an incredible team here at SVC, and we are happy to add Ty in the mix, so our leadership team can focus on their natural areas of talent,” Board Chair Mary Shaw said. “And we feel this will make the organization more solid by having a three-legged stool, rather than one proverbial “unicorn” executive director. There are many other organizations in our state who have proven this model increases communication, engagement, and resilience for the long term.”
SVC is a collaborative watershed organization whose mission is to inspire conservation and expand stewardship of the Swan Valley. They do this by working directly with private landowners, as well as state and federal land management agencies, to inform and implement projects on the ground to improve wildlife habitat and coexistence, provide information and visitor services to the general public, and provide experiential educational opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds, and orientations. You can learn more at http://www.swanvalleyconnections.org.
Reader Comments(0)