Barbara Courtney, who has held the top staff position at Orcas Center since 2005, tendered her resignation to the organization’s board leadership last week.
She will be leaving Orcas Center in December to assume the position of Director of Philanthropy at the San Juan Preservation Trust.
“I am honored to have served in this position these past five years, and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished,” Courtney said. “From the moment I stepped foot in this building, I have been in constant awe of the dedication, talent and hard work from hundreds of people who contribute significantly to making Orcas Center work.”
During her first year, Courtney led the board and community through an in depth strategic planning process, to determine what priorities Orcas Center should establish. The result was a strategic plan with five major goals that continue to steer the organization’s programming and operations. One new initiative that sprang from the strategic plan was the Orcas Arts Education Project, which continues to provide dance and theatre instruction to K-8 grade students in the classroom.
With the downturn in the economy in 2008, Courtney saw the organization successfully through what was perhaps the most challenging financial year in the organization’s history. She has obtained and managed two major capacity-building grants from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Orcas Center is financially healthy and for the past three years, attendance at events has been at a record 70-75 percent of capacity.
“I have had a lot of fun, grown professionally and worked my tail off. Yet change is healthy, and I feel that Orcas Center will benefit from a new director and personally, I am ready for a different set of challenges.,” Courtney said.
“The Board of Trustees is sorry to lose Barbara as the rudder for the Center,” said Eska Wilson, newly elected Board President. “We are sorry to lose her leadership but we recognize that she is ready to move on to new challenges and we look forward to recruiting and working with a new director.”
The Orcas Center board will immediately begin a search for a new director.
