WESTMINSTER — Kurn Hattin Homes for Children's Executive Director Connie Sanderson will retire after nearly three decades of service to the 120-year-old nonprofit children's services agency.
Sanderson plans to step down later this year. She will remain on staff until a new leader is in place and assist in the transition.
She will then continue to work part-time as a “key fundraiser,” according to a news release from the organization.
Sanderson's passion for the Kurn Hattin mission was ignited in the 1980s when she began volunteering at the school, reading bedtime stories to the children there.
In 1988, she accepted a position as a fundraising officer in the development department, eventually taking over the department's directorship in 1990.
In 2014, Kurn Hattin's Board of Trustees appointed her the organization's first female executive director.
In her 27-year tenure, Sanderson has been instrumental in growing the school's endowment and implementing a number of successful fundraising initiatives aimed at securing its long-term sustainability.
Sanderson says that she had always intended to retire earlier.
“I had announced my plans to the Executive Committee several years ago. Subsequently, the late Tom Fahner took on the role of executive director. But Tom became ill, and when his condition worsened, I stepped in to support him and to help run the organization.
“I can't think of anything else I would rather have done these past 27 years, and I am looking forward to exploring some other parts of my life.”
Kurn Hattin has already begun a national search for Sanderson's successor.