By Janet Byrd
Friends and colleagues,
Last Friday we shared the news that I will be leaving Neighborhood Partnerships later this summer, after a new Executive Director has been hired. This is big news for Neighborhood Partnerships and for me in the midst of a very odd time for our communities, our state, and the world.
I want to begin by expressing my profound gratitude. It has been an honor and a privilege to work at Neighborhood Partnerships, for just over fifteen years as Executive Director and prior to that as a consultant. While the work has sometimes been very hard, it has always inspired me with our potential to work together to make change, and it has challenged me always to look at my assumptions and imagine new ways of doing and being. You, our partners, have taken the time to engage, to question, and to teach. I have enjoyed working with you, I have learned from you, and I will cherish so many memories.
While there is always some sadness in goodbyes, I am excited to step aside and make room for new leadership at Neighborhood Partnerships. One of the great blessings of the past few years at Neighborhood Partnerships has been our work on equity and my (and our) work to learn to share power. It has been exhilarating as well as challenging to learn new ways of leadership, and to see how making room for new leaders brings new energy, creativity, and potential to light.
I am excited to lean into my new role, and see what leadership means for me now. The one thing I feel certain of is that I will be figuring out how to support new leaders as they inspire us with their vision of how our communities can best build the creative, dynamic solutions we need to face and build a new future.
It is easier to leave at a time when the Neighborhood Partnerships staff and Board are ready for this transition. I can’t say enough about the talent and capacity of the NP staff, and the exemplary and engaged leadership of our Board. Neighborhood Partnerships is ready, willing, and able to partner with all of you to build the Oregon we want to see.
For the next week, we’ll be gathering thoughts about what Neighborhood Partnerships needs in this next chapter. If you have thoughts about what is needed next, please email us. The job will be posted in mid-May, and we hope to have a new Executive Director on board in late summer.
In partnership, and with thanks –
Janet