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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Mosaic

 

6 Minutes with a CEO

 

Christy Stuber, LCSW
Former Executive Director
CONTACT Pittsburgh


CONTACT Pittsburgh has helped raise the bar of mental health services and awareness of suicide and emotional crises. Since 1971, CONTACT Pittsburgh provided 24-hour hot lines staffed by volunteers offering help to people of all ages calling anonymously about suicide, hate crimes, anxieties and other mental health issues.

 

  1. As the Executive Director of CONTACT Pittsburgh, you recently worked with the Board and Staff to decide to sunset the operations of the organization and ensure that programs are delivered by another provider. What were the key items learned during this process?  

    2. At CONTACT Pittsburgh, the process of making a voluntary, strategic decision to dissolve was unique, particularly because the organization was not facing an imminent crisis. There were several important takeaways from the process, including:

    1. Conducting an honest assessment of the effectiveness of programs and the relationship to available community resources should occur on a regular basis. We realized that our services were being provided by existing organizations within the community.  The decision to dissolve allowed community resources and funding to more efficiently support existing programs in our area.
    2. Multiple stakeholders including clients, Staff, volunteers, funders and Board members have different perspectives that needed to be taken into account throughout the process. As ED, my recommendation to dissolve the organization with dignity was done to respect the needs of our stakeholders and community.
    3. Working with the Board and stakeholders to support this recommendation required a great amount of courage from all involved.  No one liked to make this decision, but everyone realized it was the right thing to do.
    4. Because we took time through the process to ramp down operations carefully, we were able to be very thorough in the dissolution process.  For example:
        • We were able to support our clients through their emotional crises, while also ensuring their awareness of other resources in the community available to them in the future.
        • We transitioned our knowledge resources to other organizations that could continue to provide the education and outreach programs we had offered.  
        • With our remaining financial assets, we will create a fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation dedicated to supporting organizations that will continue our mission.  
        • Finally, we created opportunities to allow volunteers, Staff, Board, donors and partners to grieve the loss of the organization. 
    5. By ensuring that our knowledge and financial assets were shared with other organizations, we created a legacy for  CONTACT Pittsburgh. In this way, our dissolution becomes more of a merger – bringing our strongest assets to organizations that will continue our mission of preventing suicide.  

     

  2. What was the most difficult issue you faced over the last six months?

    3. My biggest concern was for our clients. I wanted to make sure that the callers knew where to go when in need of immediate emotional support. Secondly, I recognized that our volunteers had devoted many years and thousands of hours to our organization and I didn’t want to downplay their passion and dedication. What helped me the most was recognizing that while CONTACT Pittsburgh was closing, we were merging our assets with other organizations. Although we were no longer here, we gave our expertise to other organizations to ensure there would be support for our clients. We honored our volunteers through a closing reception and assisted them with finding other opportunities to utilize their skills.

     

  3. When did you know that you wanted to be an Executive Director?

    4. I don’t know that I had an exact moment in which I knew I wanted to be an ED, but I always aspire to the next level in whatever I’m doing with the goal of continually learning and developing myself. When the possibility of being promoted to ED became available at CONTACT Pittsburgh, where I was already working, it seemed like a natural progression. I am proud of the work we have done at CONTACT Pittsburgh for over 39 years and the process we went through to dissolve the organization with dignity.

     

  4. What experience (formal or informal) do you feel has been the most helpful in developing your leadership skills?

    5. As a continual learner, I have participated in every program Leadership Pittsburgh offers (LDI, LOB and LP). I have also found sector-focused programs such as the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership to be an excellent learning opportunity, particularly to meet other leaders within the nonprofit community where we can share best practices. And situational circumstances, such as the dissolution of CONTACT Pittsburgh have been invaluable in developing my leadership skills.

     

  5. Tell me about the best leadership advice you have ever received.

    6. My yoga practice has been a great teacher in leadership lessons. Yoga has taught me about focus, perspective, and respect for myself and others. Ultimately, yoga is about learning who you are and connecting with and accepting yourself.

     

  6. What advice do you have for a Board Member or CEO that is considering merging or closing their organization?

    7. Very few organizations have dissolved in the manner we did so finding help with this situation was challenging.  A few pieces of advice from my experience are:

    1. Don’t make spontaneous or emotionally based decisions.  Use data and information to help you paint an accurate picture of your situation.
    2. Consideration of merging or closing should be part of every strategic planning process.  It generates a strong mission-based conversation about the role of the organization in the community and the ability of the organization to meet needs.
    3. Be realistic and pay attention to the information and data reported by the organization.  Follow yearly trends and determine whether they are due to operational issues or the larger market or economic issues.
    4. Gather objective information from stakeholders, funders and thought leaders.  As part of our dissolution process, we executed an external scan to get a picture of what others in the community thought about CONTACT Pittsburgh’s role, our opportunities and threats and the nature of our sector in general. 
    5. Talk to those that have done this.  Reach out to others who have lead their organizations through this process for support and a better understanding of what to expect.

     

  7. What is next for you?

    8. As the nonprofit sector continues to feel the effects of the economic downtown for another few years, I am looking forward to leading anther nonprofit organization to sustainability through strategic growth and decision-making.


 

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