MAW Greater Bay Area - CEO Search Update
Leah Laderas Malfatti
This is a message from David Millstein, chair of the CEO Search Committee for MAW Advisory Council and YPAC members.
As you may know I’ve had the honor to chair the search committee that has been charged with the responsibility to identify our next CEO. I’m so pleased to tell you that Betsy Biern has accepted our offer and will be joining us effective October 1st. But before I get into Betsy’s background, etc., I want you to understand the search process we undertook.
Back in February the Board of Directors approved the hire of Sarah Agee of Sterling Search to identify candidates for consideration. At about the same time, a search committee was put together of six members plus myself. The committee included a staff member from the national office, a CEO from a peer chapter, a former Board chair (in addition to me), a former Board member who had been involved in Patricia’s initial hire, and two of our major donors.
Sarah initially identified eleven candidates that she thoroughly screened. The search committee then narrowed this down to six and began the interview process. This was further narrowed to three after another round of interviews and then to two. After final interviews we decided on Betsy in a unanimous vote. Board Chair Laurie Giammona and I then presented Betsy to the full Board and received unanimous approval to extend an offer which Betsy then accepted. Prior to this Sarah did extensive reface checks and an Executive Assessment was performed by a third party provider. Feedback from all was exceptionally strong.
Betsy’s immediately preceding role was that of SVP and Chief Development Officer at UCSF Children’s Hospital Foundation. I’m sure some of you will be checking her out on LinkedIN but, for those who don’t, she had been Executive Director at the American Asthma Foundation with other roles in not-for-profit/health-related organizations before that. The search committee was particularly impressed with the success Betsy had in leading major fundraising campaigns as well as her experience and skills in leading teams of professionals, with the most recent one numbering thirty. Betsy is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and received an MBA from the University of Chicago. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children.
I hope this gives you a good sense of the rigorous process we went through in selecting Betsy and why we are excited about her joining us. Although not starting officially until October 1st, Betsy will be devoting the time necessary with Patricia before then to ensure a smooth transition. More to come as plans are developed!
Best,
David
David Millstein