by Patricia Donnelly
At the end of the fiscal year I like to reflect on LCNV's accomplishments of the past 12 months. There is always so much to be proud of thanks to the dedication of the Board, staff, volunteers and, most importantly, the adult learners. In addition to accomplishing the annual goals of the strategic plan, the board and staff developed LCNV's organizational values: Learner-Focused, Respect, Innovation, Excellence, Collaboration, Integrity. Over the next few months I will be writing about how we live these values through the work we do every day. The one I am thinking about now, as we transition into the new fiscal year, is innovation. LCNV sees innovation as using creative solutions that add value to the community.
Having made some staff changes this year to better serve the needs of our adult learners, we are now adjusting staff positions to accommodate LCNV's need for improvements in communications and advancements in technology. As we approach our 50th anniversary year, the importance of marketing, media outreach, visibility, public awareness and promotion – all things that bring attention to the LCNV's 50 years of successful service – is an organizational priority. By restructuring some existing staff positions, LCNV will be able to add a dedicated Communications Specialist to the staff. The restructuring unfortunately meant saying goodbye to our long-time colleague, Matt Kollmeyer, who had worked virtually from San Francisco for the past three years on our publications, website development and grant writing. Matt blazed a trail for LCNV, demonstrating that it was possible for an employee to succeed across the country because of his exceptional talent, technological skills and flexibility. We will miss him tremendously and wish him well.
The advances in technology are constant and overwhelming, as is the demand for outcomes data reporting, web development, electronic communications and software and hardware upgrades. The position we designed years ago to manage the adult learner data has now become a tiny component of the overall information technology demands now facing LCNV. In keeping with modern times, LCNV will strengthen its in-house capacity to meet these new demands by hiring a new IT Specialist. LCNV's first IT staff member, Wayne Shewmaker, developed this position from the ground up, taking a data entry position and growing it with the demands as they unfolded. We are so grateful to Wayne for his dedication and commitment to LCNV and for showing us how important the IT function is to LCNV. In conjunction with the emphasis on communicating our success, the IT Specialist can support the message through electronic media and data-driven success stories.
LCNV is always in forward motion. We grow and change based on the needs of the community, the needs of our learners and the needs and priorities of the organization.
Patricia M. Donnelly
Executive Director
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