BIG NEWS FOR ME!Eight years ago I hung out my shingle wanting to do my own thing and excited to see how it might work. I actually had no idea what I was doing when I first began my consulting practice but now, looking back so many years later, I am humbled and heartened by all of you who have put your confidence in me to help you and your organizations – whether it was putting videos together, managing complex public processes, or helping you to advocate for important issues and ideas – it’s been an adventure and I am grateful. This has been a strange year for all of us, including me. I helped care for my elderly mother in San Diego. She died in late June. She was a force and it’s been a tough grieving process. I turned 60 (!!). I have navigated COVID and all the challenges it has created for me as a small business. And, I finished renovating a house in Tumalo, just outside Bend in Central Oregon. As the year progressed, I felt like I was ready for a new chapter and began thinking about what that could look like. As I was trolling around on Mac’s List, I happened upon a search for the Executive Director of the East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District. Amid the sea of jobs that sounded either awful or for which my background made no sense, this intrigued me. I threw my hat in the ring in early July.After months of interviews and conversations, I was notified that I had been selected, and I have accepted their offer. I begin as the Executive Director of EMSWCD on November 16th. It has been a bittersweet decision. I am excited and energized to be part of a great team of professionals doing incredible work (it’s a pretty obscure organization to most but go on their website…they (we!) are doing some very cool stuff). https://emswcd.org/; All that said, I will miss working with all of you in the months and years to come. Mostly, though, I am proud to have been a successful small, woman-owned business for eight years; and I am proud of the work I have been able to do with my many clients over the years. As I have been telling folks as the news gets out, “I’m not moving to Mars! Let’s stay in touch.” My phone and email will remain so don’t hesitate to reach out. Maybe one of these days it will be safe to grab a cup of coffee again, which I look forward to. Until then, be well and best wishes,Nancy https://emswcd.org/new-exec-director/?fbclid=IwAR2V2fI_szCTYTP-XEmPt0UB5qioW_1ndY8RzAoeOELN4mU-RvRvmLLB984