Boys And Girls Club Hiring
March 06, 2019
Organization Looks To Replace Executive Director
By LAINE GRIFFIN
DNR 3/4/19
Daily News-Record HARRISONBURG— A well-known face to Harrisonburg is about to say goodbye and the process to find her replacement is set to begin within the next week.
Lori Kizner, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, announced her resignation on Jan. 31 saying, she will leave on April 1.
Doug Driver, president of the club’s executive board, said advertising for the position will occur during the first three weeks of March, and interviews will take place afterwards with the best four or five candidates.
He said the nonprofit will advertise on online sites such as Indeed, social media, through United Way as well as James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University and Bridgewater College.
“The Boys and Girls Club of America will also be helping us find a replacement,” Driver said. “They have a search process that will assist us.”
He is expecting to have a replacement for Kizner in the first half of April.
Although Driver said he would “love” for new director to have Boys and Girls Club experience, it is not required.
The organization operates seven club sites, three in Rockingham County and four in Harrisonburg, including its headquarters in the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center, 620 Simms Ave.
It is unclear what Kizner’s salary is, but Driver said the new executive director will have a different salary.
“We are looking at restructuring salaries for our leadership team,” he said. “We will get that new structure in place before we hire anyone else.”
The leadership team consists of the executive director, director of operations, director of development and the director of finance.
The organization has not had a director of operations since November or December when Geo Bonilla resigned, according to Driver.
“When he left, we decided we wouldn’t replace him until the new executive
director was hired and let them hire the new director of operations,” Driver said.
Kizner, 59, joined the club’s board of directors in 2010, where she served for more than eight years. In 2015, she was hired as the club’s executive director, which was her first nonprofit job.
“This job allowed me to combine a lot of my passions,” Kizner said Wednesday. “Being on the board first gave me the chance to get engaged and then participate on a whole other level as the executive director.”
After her husband Scott Kizner, former Harrisonburg City Public Schools superintendent, took the superintendent’s post in Stafford County last summer, she had planned to leave her job in June to move there as well.
“I realized that I wanted to stay here and build a good transition team,” she said. “I wanted to leave when couple of the projects I had started were complete, but then I realized it was a moving target. I’d never get everything done because something new would always come up.”
Driver said the new executive director is required to have a bachelor’s degree and be a professional person with “some level of experience, but we haven’t put a number on how much experience is required.”
Candidates need to have leadership skills, including problem-solving, decision- making and delegation skills, as well as strong oral and written communication skills.
“The executive director supervises other professionals,” Driver said. “So, they need to be able to effectively do that while also managing the day-to-day challenges that occur at the club.”
Kizner said the most important thing for her replacement to be is a team player.
“I have always used the word ‘we’ because it’s a team effort,” she said. “You have to be a team with your staff, the board and the community. It’s important to get along with everyone you work with and be open to working with others.”
By LAINE GRIFFIN
DNR 3/4/19
Daily News-Record HARRISONBURG— A well-known face to Harrisonburg is about to say goodbye and the process to find her replacement is set to begin within the next week.
Lori Kizner, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, announced her resignation on Jan. 31 saying, she will leave on April 1.
Doug Driver, president of the club’s executive board, said advertising for the position will occur during the first three weeks of March, and interviews will take place afterwards with the best four or five candidates.
He said the nonprofit will advertise on online sites such as Indeed, social media, through United Way as well as James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University and Bridgewater College.
“The Boys and Girls Club of America will also be helping us find a replacement,” Driver said. “They have a search process that will assist us.”
He is expecting to have a replacement for Kizner in the first half of April.
Although Driver said he would “love” for new director to have Boys and Girls Club experience, it is not required.
The organization operates seven club sites, three in Rockingham County and four in Harrisonburg, including its headquarters in the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center, 620 Simms Ave.
It is unclear what Kizner’s salary is, but Driver said the new executive director will have a different salary.
“We are looking at restructuring salaries for our leadership team,” he said. “We will get that new structure in place before we hire anyone else.”
The leadership team consists of the executive director, director of operations, director of development and the director of finance.
The organization has not had a director of operations since November or December when Geo Bonilla resigned, according to Driver.
“When he left, we decided we wouldn’t replace him until the new executive
director was hired and let them hire the new director of operations,” Driver said.
Kizner, 59, joined the club’s board of directors in 2010, where she served for more than eight years. In 2015, she was hired as the club’s executive director, which was her first nonprofit job.
“This job allowed me to combine a lot of my passions,” Kizner said Wednesday. “Being on the board first gave me the chance to get engaged and then participate on a whole other level as the executive director.”
After her husband Scott Kizner, former Harrisonburg City Public Schools superintendent, took the superintendent’s post in Stafford County last summer, she had planned to leave her job in June to move there as well.
“I realized that I wanted to stay here and build a good transition team,” she said. “I wanted to leave when couple of the projects I had started were complete, but then I realized it was a moving target. I’d never get everything done because something new would always come up.”
Driver said the new executive director is required to have a bachelor’s degree and be a professional person with “some level of experience, but we haven’t put a number on how much experience is required.”
Candidates need to have leadership skills, including problem-solving, decision- making and delegation skills, as well as strong oral and written communication skills.
“The executive director supervises other professionals,” Driver said. “So, they need to be able to effectively do that while also managing the day-to-day challenges that occur at the club.”
Kizner said the most important thing for her replacement to be is a team player.
“I have always used the word ‘we’ because it’s a team effort,” she said. “You have to be a team with your staff, the board and the community. It’s important to get along with everyone you work with and be open to working with others.”
