Kevin Howley named as Affirmations interim CEO

FERNDALE –
The Board of Directors of Affirmations announced Oct. 11 that Kevin Howley has been appointed its interim chief executive officer. Howley has been hired to assist the organization during its executive leadership transition following the August resignation of former CEO Leslie Ann Thompson.
Howley will begin his work Nov. 1.
Since retiring from a successful business career in 2003, Howley has dedicated his time and efforts toward working with nonprofits in transition. Rather than serving as a consultant, he takes over the leadership of an organization for a limited period, not intending to take on a permanent role.
He served in this role at several organizations in Pennsylvania, including needle-exchange program Prevention Point Philadelphia and the city's Hispanic center, Centro Nuevo Creacion.
Howley came to Michigan in 2008 to fill the same role with the Ruth Ellis Center, which had unexpectedly lost its executive director, Ruth McClelland. Since then, the center has hired new ED Laura Hughes, as well as secured several grants to continue to grow its outreach to at-risk and homeless LGBTQ youth.
Howley then went on to serve as head of Friends School of Detroit in October 2009, where he helped them restructure financially.
In a June interview with Between The Lines, Howley explained why his role can be crucial during a time of leadership transition. "A lot of times, you lose an executive director or head of school or whatever and you just want to jump into hiring the next person," he explained. "Well, that's not always the best decision. So what I give an organization a chance to do is say, No. 1, who are we? What's our business model? What really works? And then you can take the time to search for the right person."
The right person, he added, is never him – a fact he makes clear going into each position. The benefit of knowing his job is temporary, he says, is freedom to be honest. "I can be very direct with board members and call them on the carpet, where a normal executive director's worried about their job. I have probably ticked off some folks along the way, but at the end of the day, they understand why I had to do it and then they appreciate where I've gotten it."
Howley, who lives with his partner and two children in Huntington Woods, will be responsible for providing leadership for the day-to-day operations of Affirmations and is expected to be with center for the next six to 12 months.
"Kevin brings a tremendous amount of experience in nonprofit management with him which will allow Affirmations to remain strong through this transition," said Mary Rose MacMillan, president of the Board of Directors. "His financial and operational expertise will support the organization while we search for a permanent CEO."
Affirmations expects to hire a permanent CEO within the next year; the search committee held its first meeting in October. To learn more about the center, visit http://www.goaffirmations.org.