Joanna Geraghty is the new chair of the Board of Directors
By Irish Echo Staff
Women are taking over the top two jobs at the international humanitarian agency, Concern Worldwide.
The board of directors of the non-profit announced what a release described as “two unanimous appointments” at the culmination of a planned leadership succession process.
Said the release: “Current board member and JetBlue Executive Vice President, Customer Experience Joanna Geraghty succeeds Thomas J. Moran as Chair of the Board of Directors; and Colleen A. Kelly, most recently Managing Director at brand experience agency SET Creative, succeeds Jack Haire as Chief Executive Officer.”
Ms. Geraghty said: “It has been incredibly rewarding to serve on the board of directors of this great organization, so it is an honor to be appointed as chair.
“I recently traveled to the Mukuru slum in Nairobi where Concern is transforming lives through building access to better quality education and health care.
“I left changed, awed by the realization that it is just one of hundreds of communities that Concern is reaching across the world.
Colleen Kelly is the new chief executive officer.
“My commitment is not only personal – it also goes hand in hand with JetBlue’s mission of inspiring humanity. I couldn’t imagine a better fit, and I am proud to represent the entire JetBlue team in this important work.”
Tom Moran had served as chair since 2001, and will remain a member of the board.
Stated the release of Mr. Moran: “A tireless visionary, he presided over a period of exponential growth, multiplying annual income from less than $5 million to nearly $40 million through a diverse group of funders including individuals, private foundations, corporations, event supporters, and the U.S. government.
“This is above and beyond his massive personal financial support and his role as a global ambassador, traveling yearly to visit Concern’s programs in difficult and hard-to-reach environments in places like Somalia, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, among many others.”
Said Mr. Moran: “I am honored to pass the torch to Joanna and we are thrilled that she will have a dynamic counterpart in Colleen Kelly as Concern Worldwide U.S. moves boldly into its next generation of continued growth and expanded impact in the lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
“They share a relentless commitment to our mission and strong track records of innovation and transformational leadership in the private sector. Our succession planning efforts could not have yielded a better outcome for the future of this organization.”
Jack Haire will also return to the board of directors, where he served for 18 years before joining as CEO one year ago.
He said: “I could not be more confident in a successor than I am in Colleen. These are two singularly talented leaders, but more importantly they share with our team of 50 people in the U.S. and 3,000 around the world the humanitarian spirit and character that have come to define Concern Worldwide.”
Colleen Kelly stated: Ms. Kelly commented, “I am as excited as I am grateful to join this remarkable team. I look forward to listening, learning, and ultimately leveraging my experience as a communicator to help bring Concern’s story, and most importantly the stories of the millions of people we work with to engaged and compassionate Americans to forge greater awareness, support, and impact.
“I also look forward to adding value to our innovation efforts, as most of my career has been about pushing traditional boundaries and finding new solutions to achieve growth and greater impact.”
Established in New York City in 1993, with offices in New York City and Chicago, Concern Worldwide U.S. is an independent affiliate of Concern Worldwide, founded in 1968, and headquartered in Dublin.
The shared mission, according to Concern, is to work with people living in extreme poverty to achieve major improvements in their lives that will last and spread, ultimately without ongoing support from the organization.
Today, Concern Worldwide works in 26 countries in both emergency response and long-term development programming, including health, nutrition, climate resilience, livelihoods, economic empowerment, water and sanitation, and primary education. Last year, the organization directly reached more than nine million people.
“Concern Worldwide U.S. has established itself as a leader especially in the areas of maternal and child health, and nutrition, with an increasing focus on developing innovative solutions across the spectrum of programming, as well as training the next generation of humanitarians,” stated the release.
