New Executive Director

[ggardner]

Yesterday I received the latest copy of the Adventure Cycling Magazine as well as a separate fundraising piece from the organization.  The letter in the magazine that has always been written by the Executive Director was instead written by the Board Chair.  In her letter she welcomed a new Interim Director.  The fundraising letter was signed by the new Interim.  Neither mailing mentioned Scott Pankratz nor why he left.
Scott was there for only a year and a half and from what I can tell, led the development of the new strategic plan.
Can anyone comment on the circumstances of his departure.  I’m hesitant to donate without knowing more about the leadership situation.
Thanks for any insight you can provide.

[LouMelini]

Thanks for posting; wondering the same though I will continue to donate.

[canalligators]

The circumstances of any one person's job change might bear on the nature of the organization, but we also must respect that something there might not be anyone else's business.  The important thing is this: they stated that the strategic direction of the organization would not change.  I'd let it go at that.

[staehpj1]

I didn't find anything that said he departed.  I did see an article that said she took over as Editor-in-Chief of Adventure Cyclist Magazine.  So that may be all that happened.  It makes sense that what you see could be explained by that new role for her.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/announcements/2021/05/17/carolyne-whelan-joins-adventure-cycling-editor-chief-adventure-cyclist#.YZo7SmDMKCg

Maybe someone who knows more could further clarify.

[jamawani]

Scott Pankratz has resigned.
Jennifer O'Dell is the new interim Executive director.
It may be helpful if one of you might contact the board chair
and request a more complete explanation of the current status of ACA.
Since ACA is funded by memberships and donations
there are many other who may wish to know.

[George]

Members got an email 11/10 saying "Executive Director Scott Pankratz recently left Adventure Cycling, and we're now welcoming Interim Executive Director Jennifer O'Dell. Jennifer has already been serving as our Chief Marketing Officer and is excited to help us shape our work. We'll share more about this in the next issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine, hitting mailboxes in a few weeks!".

As mentioned above, the December/January issue of Adventure Cyclist is out, and contains a short notice of the new Executive Director, but with no more information.