Non-Profit CEO & InterimExecs RED Team Member Transforms Tourette Association of America

When InterimExecs sent in RED Team member and Interim CEO, Michelle Barnes, into the Tourette Association of America, the organization was in a state of flux. The CEO had exited, staff was demoralized, the office was in a bit of chaos, and everyone was questioning what the future would look like.

“Staff members were wondering if they would have a job in six months,” Rovena Shirling, board member of Tourette Association of America said. “It was a little frightening for them.”

Barnes had been to this rodeo before, having worked with many nonprofit organizations to lead them to the next phase of their growth.

Tourette Association was more than 40 years old and was in need of transformation. Barnes set out to implement the vision they had by focusing on systems, revenue generation and sustainability. After putting together a strategic plan and operating priorities, she was able to put systems and procedures in place to smoothly handoff to a permanent leader.

“The new CEO walked into an action plan that they could implement that all the stars were already aligned behind.” Barnes said. “The staff was motivated, our donors had bought into it, we had organizational metrics in place, the board supported it and it was a path to continue the transformation and the turnaround.”

After getting the right leadership to put them on track, today Tourette Association of America is well positioned for the future. “An interim executive can be an incredibly quick study, can hit the road running and improve the function of the organization,” Randi Zemsky, Government Relations Committee Chair said. “We would do it again in a heartbeat.”