New Year, New Time of Leadership & Growth
With a mix of joy and sadness, I’ve realized the time is right for a new leader to take the reins of 40-year-old Bellis as it faces a dynamic and important period of growth in serving the unique needs of women whose children are parented by others. I’ve made the decision to step down from this role by March 1 and support my board in its search for its new executive director.
While it will undoubtedly be challenging to step away from 20 years of leadership in the organization, including the last 12 as its only executive director, I’m immensely proud of the innovation and hard work invested in those years to ensure Bellis is ready for what’s next in 2024!
In my collaboration with other nonprofit leaders, I know this because we all see it firsthand: Our society has big, painful concerns. Homicide by domestic partners is up. Suicide rates are rising. Incarceration of mothers is high. Trauma runs through many homes in ways we are only now realizing. The women Bellis serves are entwined in these and other difficult patterns. And, as an organization, we must mirror and uplift their needs in new ways and with urgency.
Our evaluation data give us every reason to believe Bellis’ expert-led, peer-based support network, now spanning the country, can increase participants' ability to more successfully navigate challenges with addiction (which landed many in prison), dangerous relationships, and self-worth.
My heart swells with gratitude for the thousands of stories generously shared with me and for the wisdom I’ve gained from them - that all behavior makes sense in its context.
Amplifying voices that have historically been hushed is a legacy I embrace for Bellis.
Together with the board of directors, key community foundations, individual volunteers, and donors, we did the miraculous – launched the nation’s only grief support program for women whose parental rights were terminated by the courts. This was a beautiful expansion of the vision of our Founding Mothers (going back to 1983), who started an organization specifically to tend to the unmet, painful needs of birth mothers.
Moving mountains, in the form of shifting social norms about who is worthy of support, is Bellis’ sweet spot. And I will be the first in line to cheer on the new executive director. So I ask you to help us find a leader with executive experience, clinical expertise to responsibly serve our community, a heart for fundraising, and roots in communities most often affected by the loss of parental rights. A tall order, but we are bold in asking for the right candidate to step forward and lead. The job posting can be found on the Minnesota Council for Nonprofits career board. Please help spread the word.
By Jenny Eldredge, executive director of Bellis