LGBT grantmaking agency Delaware Valley Legacy Fund will again come under new direction, as its executive director announced he will step down next month.
Michael Kendrick has headed the organization since August, but plans to move back to his home state of New York in December.
Kendrick’s partner, a respiratory therapist, was recently offered a promotion that would require him to work in Manhattan. Kendrick, who’s been with his partner for 23 years, will also be working in Manhattan in a role similar to his DVLF post, which he will depart Dec. 9.
Sandra Thompson will carry out the duties of interim executive director, a position she previously filled with Chris Bartlett during the national search that resulted in Kendrick’s hiring.
The board of directors plans to re-evaluate the other two finalists it was considering in its search and, if necessary, will reopen the national search.
Kendrick said that while he didn’t get much time at DVLF, the experience was valuable.
“It’s been very educational,” he said. “It’s such an umbrella-type organization, and it’s able to touch people in all parts of our community. DVLF really covers everything, so I got to meet lots and lots of people and get insights I never would have gotten otherwise.”
In addition to the pending leadership change at the organization, the DVLF board also underwent a transition this month, as it elected a new slate of officers to its executive committee: president D. Mark Mitchell, vice president Jeanne McIntyre, treasurer Michael Stara, secretary Jacqueline Boyer and fifth member R. Robin Austin.
Angela Giampolo, former board president, said the body usually brings on a whole new stable of members during the officers’ elections, but decided this year to stagger the appointments, having brought on two new members each month for the past several months.
She said the decision was a strategic one that sought to ease the new members into the positions as Kendrick also settled into his role.
Since the summer, the board has grown to 14 members.
Members are eligible for a one-year term and can then stay on for an additional two-year term, while officers serve a one-year term.
Giampolo said selecting the next director, even if the board has to relaunch the national search, won’t be as arduous as it was the first time around.
“It won’t be as difficult on the organization since it’s already been done once,” she said. “The tools that we need were already created, like candidate-scoring analyses, committees, all the things that we’d never done before. A big bulk of the search process was creating the process itself. So at least that huge learning curve has already been dealt with.”
The changes were announced just a week before Toy, DVLF’s annual holiday fundraiser.
Mitchell noted that, although Kendrick has only been at the helm of the organization for a few months, he was very influential in laying the groundwork for what should be a successful event.
“He really tackled Toy,” said the new board president. “He’s been going after donors and sponsors and, in fact, over the last couple weeks, brought in $15,000-$16,000 in sponsorships. He’s really been working hard on this event.”
Giampolo said Toy will serve as the swan song for a leader who, although his term was short-lived, was effective.
“Michael was so integral to this event, with acquiring sponsorships and working with Matthew, the chair of Toy, and the committee,” she said. “He’s been getting out there and going to New Hope and Rehoboth and all over Center City getting silent-auction items. He’s seen this through from soup to nuts. So this is also going to be a huge going-away party for him to thank him for all that he’s done.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].