I have been Executive Director at GOPC for just over seven years, and held more junior roles at GOPC in the six years before that.  I am acutely aware that GOPC’s success at the Statehouse and in individual communities around Ohio is entirely due GOPC’s talented staff and our awesome board.

Today I want to talk about how lucky I am to work with such engaged and smart coworkers.

When I do informational interviews, I tell people that one of the important and valued traits that employees at GOPC have is their innate curiosity.  My colleagues always want to learn more, whether its work-related or not.  In our business, we always have to be open to learning and to being humble. I have the good fortune of working with colleagues who are intensely interested and dedicated to making a greater Ohio (sorry, couldn’t resist); but they are also all intensely committed to hobbies and interests completely unrelated to community revitalization.  I work with interesting, well-rounded, no-drama colleagues and I don’t take it for granted at all.

GOPC is a nonprofit. Half of our budget comes from philanthropic support, nearly half from mission-consistent consulting projects, and the remainder from our annual conference. To maintain and grow our budget, we have to do high-quality and my colleague do.  They do their jobs *so well*.

Although this week is Thanksgiving, I hope my colleagues know how grateful I am, every day, of their contributions.

Thank you, Aaron Clapper, Casey Terry, Erica Spaid Patras, Jahvene (“V”) Davis, Jason Warner, and Meg Montgomery.  You are what makes GOPC such a highly respected, sought-after organization. Thank you!