Lane is 20th Transitional
Leader to Receive Prestigious National Award
SEATTLE, Sept. 9,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rebecca Lane has not only
left her mark on environmental, educational, housing, business,
justice, food, and health causes throughout the Pacific Northwest,
her work has also demonstrated the impact of strategic leadership
to nonprofits in transition. For outstanding contributions to the
interim executive profession, Lane has been awarded Nonprofit
Interim Executive of the Year by Third Sector Company.
"Rebecca is particularly deserving of the award for 2023 because
she was Interim Executive Director of Community School of
West Seattle at the time of the
Uvalde, Texas, shooting and was
faced with significant workplace trauma as parents, faculty and
young children dealt with the realities of a school shooting
involving small children," said Jeffrey
Wilcox, president and CEO of Third Sector Company, a pioneer
in leadership continuity solutions for community impact
organizations.
Lane was named interim executive director at Community School of
West Seattle at a time when people
were redefining work and home life following COVID and the amount
of gun violence taking place on school campuses was on the rise.
One month after Lane assumed her position, a national tragedy
unfolded at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Working at a nonprofit that was comprised of primarily Latinx
professionals, Lane led a strategy that began with closing the
school that day and allowing people to go home to their own
families and to begin to process what was happening. Once they
returned to school, she brought in a trauma specialist who helped
the teachers move forward so they could get back to their work with
the preschool children. "As a temporary chief executive, Lane had
to make incremental leadership decisions that moved the mission,
the organization, and all of its people forward using a strategy
that was created with them versus for them," Wilcox said.
"When you're an interim, your job is to figure it out. You don't
know what you're stepping into," Lane said. "Doing interim work is
very much a work of discovery and sorting through complex
organizational systems and helping them learn through change and
transition."
Lane's exemplary display of the transitional leadership
profession at work has spanned many years. She is currently interim
executive for Communities in Schools of Washington, the statewide organization to
advance local education-support programs that serve more than
107,000 students throughout the state. She has also served as
interim executive for End of Life Washington, Tacoma Farmers
Market, Green Plate Special, and Clarion West.
With her vast experience, Lane uses her lived experience to
model thoughtful leadership to community-based organizations as an
inspiration to prepare a new generation of people excited to
participate in helping people and advancing society.
"There is a stage in organizational development when a leader
departs that is opportunistic to look at the big picture and to
also understand what may have contributed to an executive
transition," the award winner said. "Interims are trained and ready
to step in, do an analysis, and make recommendations so the
organization can attract, hire and retain a successful new
long-term leader."
Since 2004, Third Sector Company has presented the only national
award for outstanding demonstration of interim leadership for
nonprofit organizations. "Like Rebecca
Lane, each Interim of the Year has faced a significant
barrier that has resulted in methodologies that contribute to the
documentation, teaching and advancement of transitional leadership
as both a unique management science and a profession," Wilcox
said.
"This work as interim professionals really matters," concluded
Lane. "It is as much a teaching role and healing process for a
nonprofit as it is a managerial responsibility to advance its
mission."
Lane was honored at a luncheon with her peers from throughout
the Pacific Northwest at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Seattle. She will be featured in an upcoming
issue of ManageHR magazine as Third Sector Company is named
one of the Top 10 Interim Services firms.
THIRD SECTOR COMPANY, SPC (A Social Purpose Corporation)
is a nationally recognized pioneer in leadership continuity
solutions for community impact organizations including charitable
causes, professional associations, and congregations. Leadership
continuity solutions include interim chief executive and chief
development officers, succession planning, executive search, and
professional development, including learning academies
for interim executives, board members, and association
leaders. Based in Seattle and
founded in 2002, Third Sector Company serves clients throughout
the United States. Third Sector
Company is committed to advancing justice, equity, diversity, and
inclusion. Learn more at https://thirdsectorcompany.com.
CONTACT:
Cynthia
Flash
425-603-9520
382850@email4pr.com
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SOURCE Third Sector Company