Third Sector Company Names Rebecca Lane 2023 Nonprofit Interim Executive of the Year

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.

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SOURCE Third Sector Company