After serving as the Executive Director of Canopy Center, and doing work from within our programs for over twelve years, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave Canopy Center, and pass the torch to the next leader for this incredible organization. I informed the board a few weeks ago, and they are working to find candidates for the role. I will be remaining with Canopy Center until later this year in order to support the transition in every way I can.
As I’ve shared this news, I’ve been met with a fair amount of surprise. Which is probably to be expected. I have poured my heart into this work, supporting the amazing volunteers and staff who show up for kids at some of their hardest moments. What I’ll say about my decision, and this job, is that it takes a lot. It takes heart, and it also requires dedication, strategy, rebuilding when something isn’t going how it should, and many collaborative hours to ensure success. Being trusted by the community, the staff, and the Board of Directors, to be the person at the helm for these past years has been a real honor.
Stepping into the role of Executive Director five years ago, I did so knowing our agency was in a time of change, both as a result of the pandemic, and also known funding shifts. I’ve led the organization through re-strategizing sustainability, and made many hard decisions. As a result, I know Canopy Center is in a good place, with some great momentum for the work to continue. This is in large thanks to you, to our community and funders, who stand behind us and believe in this important work.
I originally came into this work as a volunteer. I had learned about the CASA program as a teenager from a book I had read, and had always kept it in mind as an impactful volunteer role, one I hoped to do someday. Finally, when my own kiddo was turning one year old, I was struck by everything he had gone through in that year. All the growth and change. And I thought about the CASA program, and kids who have faced a very different first year. My own childhood wasn’t without adverse experiences. So I finally got signed up to train to be a volunteer advocate, and was sworn in by a judge in the fall of 2013.
When I later came on to work at CASA, and subsequently lead the Dane County CASA program, I got to see the broader landscape of how we, as a community and as systems, show up for kids and families. It cemented for me the idea that individualized support matters.
Throughout my time with CASA, I got to spend a lot of time getting to know kids of all ages, sometimes as a direct support for kids, but more often helping new CASA volunteers get introduced to kids they will serve for months, sometimes years. I’ve played in neighborhood kickball games, competed in so many card games, and been the red discs in Connect Four in match after match. My favorite story to tell, because it is a good reminder to stay humble, is about a time playing Connect Four with a young boy at the coffee table in his living room. I decided to let him win the first two games, and then I would get competitive. Well, I never won a game! Turns out I was never “letting” him win anything, I was way out of my league in this Connect Four matchup. It’s during these moments, and times of play, that real conversations between a CASA and a child occur, which transform into community, school, and court advocacy, advancing small and meaningful change, based in real day to day knowledge about the kids we serve.
When I was offered the Executive Director role, it meant getting the chance to oversee the agency’s other amazing programs, the Oasis mental health clinic, and Parent to Child supervised visitation program. We also merged the CASA program with Columbia County, expanding our reach. Each program of the agency is positioned to support children and families in their own specific way, but there is a lot that unites the programs in their work and goals, and each exemplifies our key value: individualized care for children.
Individualized care matters. The reason a child may need our services, and what they need from our services, is varied.
I have remained deeply grateful for all my time in direct service roles, as those experiences informed how I approached my work as Executive Director and how I sought to support the staff and volunteers of Canopy Center. They are there, in community with these children and
families, building trust, listening carefully, and identifying how best to meet their needs. Their work informs and strengthens the programs they lead and support, ensuring its responsiveness to changing needs.
Having the opportunity to listen to those closest to the work, learn from them, and help translate those lessons into stronger programs, has been an honor. I look forward to the next chapter of my relationship with Canopy Center, supporting and championing the important work being
carried forward, and celebrating the impact Canopy Center will continue to have in the lives of children and families for years to come.
With gratitude,
Meaghan Henry
