Happy New Year! May 2021 be a brighter, lighter year for us all. GVR has a new CEO this month! While he is settling in, let’s pause to acknowledge Jen Morningstar for her tireless and too-often thankless work as the Interim CEO through the hardest year GVR has yet seen.
Jen did not seek the job of CEO, and perhaps if she had known a global health crisis was beginning to boil over when she was abruptly handed the wheel, she might have abandoned ship and headed for the hills. Her staff is grateful that she held on. Like corporate and community leaders everywhere, Jen found herself navigating uncharted waters, and she is the first person to say that like those of other leaders, her decisions haven’t always been perfect. The course to plot was not often clear. But she never gave up and never left her team to endure the clamor alone.
While trying to manage an operation turned upside-down by the pandemic, Jen also attended to a Board of Directors that was proceeding with business-as-usual, pursuing dynamic projects. Obviously tired, at times worn thin by ceaseless demands and the heavy responsibility of staff and community health, Jen maintained both her composure and sense of humor, expressed her gratitude to her staff, noticed and commended their hard work, trusted them to do their jobs, and respected their instincts. She marked birthdays, inquired about ailing spouses and remote-schooling children, and stepped in herself to cover duties as needed. She is relieved to be relieved. It was a very difficult year and she should be commended for keeping the operation afloat.
Jen, for your steadfastness, humility, and grace under fire, thank you.
After January 4, Jen’s contact information will change. Please direct operational inquiries to hotline@gvrec.org and policy inquiries to board@gvrec.org, selecting just one address. Copying multiple recipients creates delays as staff sort out who should respond and this sometimes results in emails being overlooked. If you are uncertain, never fear—staff will forward your message to appropriate parties as needed.