Dear Friends of Glynwood:

I have had the privilege and pleasure to serve as President of Glynwood since its founding in the fall of 1995. Today our work is squarely in the middle of one of the most important and crosscutting issues of the day: revitalizing America’s food system. These are exciting and challenging times and we are privileged to be recognized as leaders in this movement that Time Magazine has said may supersede the environmental movement.

Glynwood recently completed the first phase of a strategic planning process that engaged a broad range of stakeholders, along with our board and staff, to consider how the organization can build on and leverage its decade-plus of experience with food and farming issues.

We were gratified that these stakeholders emphatically confirmed the value of our programs. They also called on us to enhance their impact in some specific ways, including by sharing what we learn more intentionally and by increasing our effort to create the networks of relationships that must undergird the strengthening of a stronger regional food system and the development of rural communities.

As we enter the new year, we will begin the next phase of this strategic planning effort – reconsidering the most effective use of all of the organization’s resources. This seemed to me to be the optimal time to transition to a new leader who could assume overall administrative responsibility. I am delighted that the board concurred with the value of making this change now. It is an invigorating prospect for the organization and for me personally.

Our plan is for me to take on a new role we are terming “Senior Fellow” as soon as my successor is in place. This new role will afford me the time to reflect on what we learn and to develop more effective ways of sharing these insights with others; to continue to work closely with the development of a new program called the Glynwood Farm Business Incubator, and with the Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming, which I co-founded in 2010; and to serve as a resource to my successor in designing strategic initiatives that “knit the network”.

We begin our search for the new president of Glynwood today and we invite resumes and candidate suggestions for a position that I know is both challenging and rewarding. Details of the job description can be found on the Glynwood website.

On behalf of Glynwood, as well as myself, I want to thank you for your continuing interest and support of our mission. It is an exciting time and we look forward to sharing our ongoing work with you.

Judith M. LaBelle
President