By Barbara Kaufman

 By the time you read this, our new executive director, Ansley Johnson, will have been on board for a few weeks. Ansley, who prefers being called “Lee,” comes to us with more than 25 years of not-for-profit management experience. An important qualification for the Federation is his successful background in all kinds of fund raising and development.

How does an organization like the Federation get a new executive director?  With much care, planning and hard work!

At the first meeting of the Board of Directors in November, we began the process by approving a job description and placing it on the website of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. That has become “the” place to advertise for high level not-for-profit positions. We chose a search committee, consisting of Susie Ragland, Dennis Anderson and myself. I would have liked to include someone from outside the Metro area, but we knew there would be lots of meetings in a short time. Selecting a new executive director can’t be done over the telephone. You really have to be there, interacting with the candidate, and able to observe all the non-verbal communication going on.

My fervent thanks to Susie and Dennis. They worked quickly and well. They diligently read all those applications and made thoughtful judgments about candidates. Without their efforts we would have had a tough time selecting a candidate.

From that single placement of the ad, we garnered 55 applications! We asked for a number of critical characteristics:

• at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably a master’s degree;
• knowledge and experience with senior issues and programs;
• successful fund raising and budgeting experience;
• knowing how to work with a Board of Directors;
• experience with managing staff and working with volunteers;
• understanding marketing and public relations;
• communications skills; and
• ability to evaluation programs and services.

We didn’t ask about walking on water, but we thought about it!

From the original 55 applications, we narrowed it down to 12 we’d like to talk with about the position. After those initial interviews, we further narrowed the pool to three people who seemed to be good prospects. A second set of interviews brought us to a unanimous decision on Ansley Johnson. And, with authorization from the full Board of Directors, on Dec. 27, I offered Mr. Johnson the position, which he accepted with enthusiasm.

I believe we have made a good choice. I think our new director can help the Federation grow and change as we must. He will, of course, be at our St. Cloud meeting later this month. I hope you will take the opportunity to meet and greet him and, perhaps, get a chance to talk about your own hopes and dreams for the Federation.

And finally, I want to thank Reid Zimmerman for the outstanding work he has done over the past year. We all knew there was some course corrections to be made for both the organization itself and our financial situation. Reid has used his amazing expertise to help us develop a much sounder foundation and a viable blueprint for the future. So thanks, Reid.