Executive Director Community Note: Celebrating 20 Years
Dear Krista Foundation Community,
We are grateful for all the ways you have invested in our work over the last 20 years! In August of 1999, the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship was founded by Jim and Linda Hunt and a community of friends. Twenty years later we continue to imagine tomorrow together, for 20 years and beyond! The Hunts’ roles have shifted and changed over the years as the organization has grown from having Linda as a volunteer director to the current team of five staff plus a Krista Colleague Leadership Council, Board of Directors, and Advisory Board. Jim continues to serve on the Board and Linda on our Advisory Board.
At the fall meeting the Board elected a new Executive Council, including President Taylor Tibbs, a 2015 Krista Colleague. Taylor brings extensive service experience as a manager of year-long service volunteers in her job as the Act Six Tacoma-Seattle Site Director for Degrees of Change. Taylor is also an original Krista Apprentice Facilitator and works alongside our Director for Partnerships, Stacy Kitahata, developing the Krista Colleague Facilitator Program. I am delighted to have a strong team taking us into the next 20+ years! You can view the full leadership team here.
At our annual conference, “Tending the Garden: Embracing Our Living Stories”, Krista Colleagues added their fingerprints and art to the planter shown below as a gift celebrating and thanking the Hunts for their dedication and care for the Krista Foundation community through all its many seasons.
Between treatments for stage 4 breast cancer that has metastasized in the bone marrow, Linda and Jim savored a summer of family reunions, camping trips and a river cruise in Portugal. They recently received good news that Linda’s cancer is in remission. They continue to be thankful for your prayers, a genuine gift during these challenging days. While ongoing cancer treatments periodically sap Linda’s energy, her spirit is strong. Last weekend she was a featured speaker at TEDxSpokane sharing her insights on nurturing places and practices for resilience, inner strength, and hope amid the many challenges we face individually and as a global community. These themes are echoed in her new book, Soul Space: Creating Places and Lives that Make a Difference.
Here are some highlights from our 20th year:
More than 330 Krista Colleagues work and serve in over 100 professional fields from as near as Spokane and Tacoma to as far as Thailand and Panama.
Through the partnership program, The Krista Foundation facilitates intercultural capacity-building experiences for service volunteers, community organizations, and institutions.
In 2019 we partnered with 23 organizations (including service, church, education, community organizations) to provide programming to enhance volunteer effectiveness and staff capacity. Our staff and Apprentices facilitated 29 events with a total of 1,064 participants.
24 active Apprentice Facilitators make a dynamic Community of Practice developing and exercising their skills as change agents in the volunteer service realm and in their own communities and workplaces.
As we celebrate 20 years of learning and growth, imagining tomorrow together, we are thankful for each of you. Your dedication to the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship is creating lives that make a difference! Learn more in our 2019 Annual Report, coming in early 2020.
Thank you for your continued support!
Valerie Norwood
Executive Director