The Charleston Regional Business Journal recently held their annual ‘Women of Influence” awards program with two of Rush Dixon Architects’ clients collecting the praise. The Women of Influence awards recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of women from various industries and sectors, including business, entrepreneurship, public service, education and community engagement. Honorees have demonstrated exceptional leadership, resilience, and innovation, paving the way for future generations. It was our privilege to work alongside, and in turn nominate, Beverly Hutchison, Executive Director of Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center and Stephanie Kelley, Executive Director of East Cooper Community Outreach, both of whom received the honor in a ceremony last month. See below for the highlights of each of their contribution to their organizations and the Charleston community in general.
In March 2017 Stephanie Kelley was hired as the fifth Executive Director for East Cooper Community Outreach in a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors. ECCO was established in 1990 as a local non-profit organization in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo. Since then, ECCO has provided assistance in the form of financial assistance, medical aide, clothing and food to East Cooper families in need. As Executive Director, Ms. Kelley is responsible for all operations of ECCO including management of staff, over-seeing all client programs, development, building and grounds, and support to the Board of Directors. Not only has Ms. Kelley’s performance as ED received high scores each year from the Board of Directors, but her ‘Client First’ belief has become a major tenet for the organization: THE CLIENT IS 1) The most important person in our system. Without clients, there would be no need for the organization. 2) Not a cold statistic, but a flesh and blood human being with feelings and emotions like our own. 3) Not someone to be tolerated so that we can do our thing. They are our thing. 4) Not dependent on us. Rather, we are dependent on them. 5) Not an interruption of our work, but the purpose of it. 6) We are not doing them a favor by serving them. They are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so.
Stephanie Kelley has successfully completed and exceeded the fundraising goals of the “Beyond Our Walls” Capital Campaign for the expansion of the ECCO facilities and services. Additionally, Ms. Kelley was named ‘Non-Profit Leader of the Year’ by Trident United Way’s Women United faction. Finally, under her leadership, ECCO was awarded the Chick-fil-A True Inspiration Award and received a $175,000 grant, making it the only nonprofit in the state nominated for this award.
During Ms. Kelley’s tenure as executive director, ECCO has increased its funding by three times. This speaks to not only the relevant programs and services created but the efficient manner in which it is executed. This significant increase in funding is also a reflection that donors trust the organization with their dollars. Additionally, Ms. Kelley’s exceptional leadership skills were evident (and much needed) during the Covid-19 pandemic. While this event effected all of us, the ECCO clients stood to be most negatively effected. Through keeping the “Client First” mindset, Ms. Kelley guided her staff to keep the services intact by encouraging them to think outside the box creatively and safely meet the growing needs of the community. Finally, Ms. Kelley implemented a “Client Town Hall” where individuals receiving ECCO’s services were invited to provide feedback - positive and negative - in a collaborative and humble attempt to always improve ECCO’s services.
Beyond being an effective and gracious role model in her role as ED, Ms. Kelley continuously lifts up her staff, which is primarily women, by asking herself “What else can I teach them? How can I empower them? How can I give them ownership?” One specific example is creating an annual 'Reflection Day’ for directors where staff members spend a work day off-site, with lunch provided, to examine their role at ECCO, what is working and what could be improved or adjusted. While a simple gesture, these days of reflection are paramount in allowing individuals have awareness and agency in their path. By allowing time for individual assessment and growth, Ms. Kelley wisely invests in each staff member to be in alignment with themselves and thus for ECCO.
While Ms. Kelley has decades of experience, she brings a humility not often seen at this level of leadership. She does not assume she alone has the answer - but rather the answer is in the group be it staff, clients, donors etc. She encourages all to understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ and to slow down enough to figure out the right problem needing a solution. COVID required ECCO to get innovative and Ms. Kelley and her staff implemented the “Smart Choice” program which allows clients to place orders from the Food Pantry. The recent capital campaign revealed an opportunity to bridge the transportation gap that is a consistent barrier for ECCO clients; therefore, Ms. Kelley included a mobile services unit as part of the capital campaign goal. This innovative thinking is what allows ECCO, through Kelley’s leadership, to continue to evolve to meet the needs of the community members.
In a poetic journey, Ms. Kelley actually began her relationship with ECCO as a volunteer in 2012 when first moving to the area. From 2012 - 2014, she served as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Knights of Columbus, Council 704's Annual Turkey Day Run in Charleston; From 2012 through 2014, she volunteered at ECCO as an Empowerment Facilitator; From 2014 - 2016, she chaired the Annual Golf Ball Planning Committee - ECCO's Annual Golf Tournament and Gala fundraisers; From 2013 - 2016, she served as an I-Beam Reading Mentor at the James B. Edwards Elementary School; she served on the ECCO Board of Directors from 2015 until her appointment as the ED in 2017. Outside of ECCO, she is a regular lector at Christ our King and serves on the Board of Directors of East Cooper Faith Network with a concentration on their reading program. This involvement aligns with her professional values of doing meaningful work and personal values of faith, family, and integrity.
Beverly has served Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center for over 30 years—first as a community volunteer, then a board member and finally on staff for 21 years. In the midst of the pandemic she assumed the role of Executive Director leaving her position as Director of Development and Communications.
Throughout her time at Dee Norton she has looked for opportunities to serve. Her leadership reflects that servant attitude of ‘how can I better serve the children, our staff and our supporters to fulfill our mission.’ In her words, “I have incredibly talented and experienced leadership around me both on staff and on our board. My job is to ensure they have all they need to achieve their goals.” Last year recognizing the need to retain talented employees in a tight job market, the organization was able to provide market adjustments across all staff positions.
The DNCAC staff is predominately female: of over staff of 42, there are 1.5 men on the team. Promoting women in the workplace is what Beverly does every day. The strength of the staff is their passion for their work. To support her belief in the continued opportunity to learn, the organization secured a restricted gift from a generous donor that has allowed the staff to truly spread their wings in the past two years. The staff is encouraged to continue to educate themselves in their particular areas of interest. For instance, the organization has a clinician who is passionate about improving services for the very young child. With Beverly’s encouragement she is now trained in treatment proven to work with families of very young children.
Beverly started her volunteer career with the Junior League of Charleston with her first volunteer placement at Dee Norton. She is a member of Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian where over the years has held various leadership roles. In the past she has been active with local schools when her children were young.
Beverly has been involved at a leadership level for two major campaigns, the ‘Next Child Fund Endowment’ campaign and our ‘Above and Beyond Capital Campaign’. The Next Child Fund raised $3.5 Million and provides long-term financial security for the center.. The Above and Beyond campaign successfully raised $5million to fund the renovations and expansion to allow the organization to serve more children. In 2020 just prior to the pandemic Beverly was privileged to be a part of an amazing team of staff and community volunteers who set their sights high for the annual dinner auction and successfully raised $1 million in one night—essentially raising the funds necessary for two budget years. This proved to be providential as fundraising events were curtailed in 2021 due to COVID-19 and has set the stage for the next two events to be as successful. Beverly is most proud of how the community comes together at this event; there is nothing like seeing those paddles fly into the air when we ask guests to sponsor services for children!
Beverly has done everything at the organization from plan art activities for children in the lobby and mop the floors when toilets overflow to bravely asking donors to contribute a $1million to the mission and stand up in front of hundreds of people to share the Dee Norton story. She has colored with the children, talked to anxious parents who didn’t understand our process and led hundreds of tours of the Center. She has been amazed at what a group of committed volunteers can do and have had the privilege to work and be inspired by them.
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