Red Cross seeks leader savvy to county
ways BY JOHN GOLDEN
The Westchester County chapter of the
American Red Cross has begun searching for a chief
executive officer to lead the agency, which has
gone three months with interim national Red Cross
staffers holding key local posts.
F. Dianne Young, board chairwoman of the
American Red Cross in Westchester County and an
IBM Corp. executive, recently named William J. McGrath,
a chapter director and vice president of Bronx-Westchester
electric operations at Consolidated Edison Co.,
to head a search committee. Other committee members
are: Marsha Gordon, president of The Business Council
of Westchester; Milagros Lecuona, Red Cross board
member and project manager for the Peter Gisolfi
Associates architectural firm; Sandra Miller, director
of public affairs for ConEd; Jan Quoss, volunteer
management human resources officer for the Red Cross
Northeast service area; Susan Rounds, a chapter
solutions manager in the Red Cross Northeast service
area and the Westchester chapter’s interim chief
operating officer; Richard P. Swierat, executive
director of Westchester ARC; and Kenneth Theobalds,
vice president of government affairs for Entergy
Nuclear Northeast.
“We just want to get someone as soon as
possible,” said Young, although a previously stated
goal of hiring a permanent CEO by June might not
be realized. “Hopefully we’ll have at least our
candidates selected by June,” she said. “We want
the right candidate.”
The new CEO will replace former chapter
head James Dennis, who was fired in early February
along with three other chapter employees. Dennis
served 14 months in the job.
Young at the time said the chapter was
“challenged” by insufficient fundraising and a decline
in chapter finances, although a Red Cross donor
and former board member said the board, not Dennis,
was to blame for that.
The chapter’s interim CEO, Ed Robertson,
a national Red Cross staff member for its Northeast
area, said he is not a candidate for the permanent
job.
Regarding job candidates, Young said, “We
think that it’s important that they either have
a good understanding of the Westchester community
or that they can quickly come up to speed on the
Westchester community.”
“We don’t feel strongly that you have to
have worked for the Red Cross,” she said. “I think
the stronger quality we’re looking for is leadership.
We need a CEO, someone who can lead a business.
Community, Red Cross operating leadership and fundraising
those are the three things we’re looking for,”
Young said.
Young said the board in a strategic planning
session this month would look at the chapter’s organizational
structure “and how we can be more effective in the
community.”
“We have strengthened our operations,”
said McGrath, the search committee head, “and we
look forward to considering candidates who can grow
our financial resources and lead us forward so that
we can continue to effectively respond to community
needs and expectations from single-family fires
to the largest catastrophic events.”
In the wake of the April flood disaster,
Robertson said, local Red Cross officials “are still
working with the last few families on emergency
assistance.” The interim Red Cross leader said he
had no figures on the local chapter’s costs for
disaster relief and flood emergency services.
In its flood-ravaged Northeast service
area, which extends from Puerto Rico to New England,
the Red Cross has spent more than $5 million, he
said.
Interested applicants can contact the search
committee by sending a cover letter and resume to
quossj@usa.redcross.org.
