Sep 29, 2017
NAATP Board Member Rebecca Flood announced Thursday that she had accepted the position of President and CEO at Ashley Addiction Treatment after 13 years leading New Directions for Women.
Dear friends,
I'm writing to share some news that simultaneously breaks my heart and fills it with great joy and anticipation. As a few of you already know, I have officially accepted a position with Ashley - an iconic and well-respected addiction treatment center in Havre de Grace, Maryland. I will be Ashley's new president and CEO, effective January 1, 2018. My day-to-day work as CEO of New Directions for Women will end on December 16, 2017, although the plan is for my New Directions for Women board position to remain unchanged - even after I begin working at Ashley.
Since 2004, I have been proud to call New Directions for Women my professional home. This feeling runs deep. It's now part of my DNA and will stay with me as I go forward. In fact, I view this next chapter as the logical continuation of the many pages that have come before it - for me and New Directions for Women. For each of us, this chapter is not necessarily new, it's simply next.
As I see it, everything about New Directions for Women - all that we've achieved together and the countless lives we have touched - is fortified and will remain solid long after I am on the East Coast. Our organization is stout and so is our mission. Please don't see this as goodbye - I certainly don't. This is not a departure for me, it's a seamless transition for me and for New Directions for Women as our journeys move onward. As we help to transform lives, it seems appropriate that our organization also must transform, and that begins today.
As noted, I still plan on being an active member of the New Directions for Women Board of Directors, including attending regular board meetings. As such, my meaningful connection to the organization, including strategic oversight and thought leadership, will carry forward. The most noticeable New Directions for Women change you likely will experience will be in daily operations.
Clearly, I won't be running New Directions for Women from the East Coast. I will be running Ashley. But, I am uber-confident in the secure foundation that underpins New Directions for Women. Dedicated next-generation leaders, including Tania Bhattacharyya, Whitney Hamlin, and a third woman who will be named shortly, each a trusted and capable New Directions for Women custodian, will manage the organization in a newly created Office of the President.
Over the next few months, I will be working with this team to further mentor them and shift roles and responsibilities to them. During this time, I expect that our daily activities will be uninterrupted and that the continuity of care we provide to those on the road to recovery will be preserved.
From the day we're born, I truly believe we're all in constant motion. New Directions for Women is no different. It's evolving. It's on a path - then, now and for years to come. I've been very fortunate to grip the New Directions for Women steering wheel for 13 years. I respect where the organization has been and I admire where it's going. While I may not have my hands on the wheel any longer, in one way or another, I'll always be along for the journey.
I am so incredibly blessed to have worked with each of you, and I look forward to what's next for all of us, including New Directions for Women.
Blessings,
Becky
