Civic Heart Community Services CEO announces retirement in December 2023
A letter from Civic Heart’s Board of Directors
It is with great respect and appreciation we share with you, a trusted member of the Civic Heart community, the news of CEO Helen Stagg’s intent to retire from her leadership role, effective December 31, 2023. Since she accepted the role in 2019, Stagg— as she’s trained us all to refer to her— has so ably served and led the mission of Civic Heart and those who are in action with her.
Now, in return, we honor her stated desire to focus her energies on a very personal spiritual growth journey. We know you too will want to express your gratitude for all she has accomplished for our community and send best wishes for the future she envisions for herself.
Ms. Stagg has given us (and many award judges) every reason to be confident she will indeed be a force in her spiritual journey mission. After all, since her CEO tenure began in 2019, Civic Heart has achieved a 240% increase in community investment. Under her unrelenting passion for empowering others, the exceptional growth has expanded the organization’s work to 25 programs serving 65,000 people in 59 Texas counties, supported by 287 volunteers and 75 culturally diverse employees working under 150 agreements with a wide range of partners and a $13 million annual budget. Of course, there is so much more to share about her contributions over her 23-year tenure with the organization. And at the November 3rd Fall Luncheon, we will properly celebrate these achievements and the remarkable individual who dedicated her life to this vital community work at an event in her honor.
The bar will be high for our new CEO, without a doubt. Fortunately, our next chosen leader will be standing on the shoulders of a successful predecessor. To identify and recruit a chief executive prepared and driven to build on the many achievements of recent years and fulfill on the strategic plans in development, we have retained the services of Gershenson Consulting, LLC to conduct the search. While the search is underway, you will continue to see the same level of performance and partnership from Civic Heart Community Services that you have come to expect and rely upon under Ms. Stagg’s leadership.
We plan to begin 2024 on January 2nd under the leadership of a new CEO. In true fashion, Ms. Stagg let it be known she will fully support her successor in the transition to ensure continuity in quality client services, and consistency in planned programs. Always on mission, she intends to help empower the new CEO to forge new paths that further our mission to help others empower themselves.
She, and we, request that you too do all you can to value and elevate our incoming CEO and demonstrate your lasting commitment to be part of the solutions needed by those in our community, as you have done so faithfully for so long. For all you have already contributed – your talents, your funds, your time, your connections – and your enduring support of Civic Heart leadership past and future, we thank you and look forward to all the good we will cause together.
Onward, Together,
Vanessa T. Reed
Board Chairperson
