It is with great pleasure and excitement that we announce the beginning of a new chapter at the foundation. Those of you that follow us on social media may already have some educated guesses; the rest of you are in for a surprise or two.
Last fall we conducted a survey of our previous applicants. It came to our attention that our name, “Special Hope,” was not an encouragement to some. In fact, many of the members of the communities that we serve are not particularly interested in being special. They just want to be included. With this in mind, we decided to rename and rebrand the organization. After months of deliberation, we are proud to announce our new name. Going forward, The Special Hope Foundation will be known as WITH. This stands for Working for Inclusive and Transformative Healthcare. We believe that this name better represents our work and the communities we serve.
But that’s not all…we also have news about our leadership. After fifteen years at the helm, Lynne O’Hara, is leaving the position of Executive Director but she will remain with the organization as the President of the Board of Directors. In our search for the leader who will guide this foundation’s future, we found the perfect person. It is with great pleasure that we announce that Ryan Easterly will serve as Executive Director of WITH Foundation.
Ryan previously served on SHF’s Board of Directors. He has a background in foundation work both in the government and the nonprofit sector. He is a talented individual and highly respected in the field. Most recently, Ryan worked in the for-profit world and was also appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. We are delighted that he has accepted our offer and are confident that he is the right person at this time in our history.