Friends of Ngong Road is in a time of transition as we move from being a volunteer-run organization to one with a professional staff, supported by an engaged board of directors. Since inception, we have been (and remain) deeply committed to keeping our costs low with a goal that the vast majority of your contributions can be sent to Kenya to support the children. While retaining that intent, we are beginning to build a small U.S. staff, focused on key activities required to run the organization. I would like you to meet them:
Jil Bakko was our first part-time employee and is our Accountant. She has faithfully and effectively shepherded the organization through our annual audits and required filings. She puts together monthly financial reports and reviews financial reports that come from Kenya.
Lacey Kraft joined the organization in February 2016 and works full-time as the Director of Development. Lacey is leveraging the successful fundraising efforts of the first ten years to establish a sustainable and efficient development program.
Michon Paggitt joined in March 2017 as a part-time Operations Associate. Michon is an expert in SalesForce.com, our operating platform. She processes donations, sends renewal reminders, and is working to clean up ten years of data. We are excited about the many ways we know Michon can help us improve effectiveness.
Betsy Reveal will begin working for us in July as a part-time Chief Financial Officer. Given the theft in 2016, we are working on many fronts to ensure our financial controls are much stronger than required in the U.S. so we can be assured of our financial security. Betsy has extensive experience as a finance leader for both large international NGOs and cities all around the world.
One of our 2017 priorities is capacity-building to prepare to make this organization sustainable into the future. With the addition of this wonderful team, we believe we have taken a big step in that direction.
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