The CDS Board decided late fall of 2022 to contract an executive director role. The board and working group volunteer members have done an incredible job treading water and regrouping over the past couple years, but we decided that an executive director would help leverage our volunteer capacity to springboard CDS into a new and exciting chapter.
Vice Chair of Operations Steve Jeanetta chaired our hiring committee, joined by Secretary Lisa Gilchrist, Vice Chair of Programs Margaret Stout, board members Neil Lindscheid and Zach Wood. We promoted the position on our website, through Vanguard, Facebook, LinkedIn, and two different nonprofit job posting sites. We received 26 applications, each of which was reviewed by at least two members of our committee. We interviewed a whopping ten (10) candidates to ensure we covered a breadth of options. The committee’s top four (4) candidates had the opportunity to meet with additional members of the board. The board decided to extend an offer to candidate Doug Leslie at the January 10th board meeting. We are thrilled to announce that he accepted our offer has has just begun his work with CDS.
Doug Leslie is a 20-year veteran of association and nonprofit management. He transitioned to the nonprofit sector in 2001 after a 10-year career in corporate I.T. sales and services, and has never looked back. Mr. Leslie has a breadth of experience ranging from small business associations to faith-based membership nonprofits, always providing executive leadership and service to best fulfill the mission of the organization. Doug holds a degree in Organizational Leadership combined with multiple industry certifications including Six Sigma Black Belt and is will soon hold the Executive Nonprofit Leadership Certificate from the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy. He lives with his family in Phoenix, AZ.
