Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service : Donna A. Santarsiero To Retire

DONNA A. SANTARSIERO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TO RETIRE FOLLOWING 28 YEARS OF AGENCY LEADERSHIP

Donna Santarsiero Image

The Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service has announced the retirement of its Executive Director, Donna A. Santarsiero, effective in late 2007.

Ms. Santarsiero has served as the organization's Executive Director for 28 years, beginning in 1979. Earlier, Governor Hugh Carey appointed Ms. Santarsiero to serve as Associate Commissioner with the New York State Department of Social Services, where she was responsible for children's services statewide. Prior to that position, she was the Deputy Director of the Department of Child Care for the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.

"We are so appreciative of Donna's excellent leadership," said Brooklyn Bureau Board Chairman Jerrold H. Mulder. "Under her direction, and as a result of her vision and superior fundraising abilities, our agency has both evolved and prospered. Her energy and commitment to excellence have grown the Brooklyn Bureau into a professionally-staffed, $27 million organization, serving more than 11,000 disadvantaged children, adolescents, families and adults with disabilities each year. Donna's contribution to the Brooklyn Bureau is nothing less than stellar. All of us associated with the agency - the Board, staff, and most importantly, the people we serve - convey to Donna our deepest gratitude and our fondest appreciation for her wonderful service."

"I have had the privilege of being on the Brooklyn Bureau's Board of Directors and being associated with the Brooklyn Bureau for more than 20 years, and Donna is the best of the best," said Charles J. Hamm, former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Independence Community Bank and Brooklyn Bureau Chairman Emeritus. "Her staff say it, her board says it and her clients say it. It is the truth. Donna has judgment, dedication, vision and insistence. For nearly 30 years, with her ethic, and her drive and management expertise, she has developed the Brooklyn Bureau into a truly outstanding organization."

A comparison of the agency in 1980 vs. 2006 reveals the Brooklyn Bureau's remarkable growth and transformation during Ms. Santarsiero's tenure. Over that time, the agency increased the number of people served annually by nearly 300%, to more than 11,000; annual operating revenues increased more than 800% to $27,000,000; annual support from private sources grew more than 650%; and annual government fees and contracts grew nearly 1000%. The portion of total expenses the agency devoted to supporting services (management, general and fundraising) decreased from 17% in 1980 to 13% in 2006.

Today, from 17 Brooklyn sites, the Brooklyn Bureau offers a comprehensive range of services, provided by the agency's staff of 500. Services and initiatives added under Ms. Santarsiero's leadership include: WeCARE job training and placement services for people with disabilities moving off public assistance to employment; the Adolescent Employment and Education Program, which provides vocational training and GED services to emotionally disturbed youth ages 16-21; the Transitional Living Community, a 40-bed section of the former Brooklyn Women's Shelter in East New York serving homeless, mentally ill women; an array of day habilitation programs for adults with physical, developmental, and psychiatric disabilities; preschool, Head Start, kindergarten and afterschool programs in two Fort Greene day care centers; five school-based afterschool programs for elementary and middle school children in East New York and Crown Heights; and a network of 38 Family Day Care providers who provide day care services in their homes for children aged 0-4.

Several of the agency's programs that operated in 1980 have experienced significant growth, including job training and placement services for adults with disabilities. During the past year, the Brooklyn Bureau provided pre-employment training to nearly 3,000 adults with disabilities, more than 700 of whom secured paying jobs. Other programs were modified or curtailed to meet changing community needs. In 1980, the Brooklyn Bureau was a prominent provider of services to children in foster care. The agency discontinued foster care services in favor of its Preventive Services program, which offers intensive counseling to at-risk families, thus keeping their children out of foster care. Today, the Brooklyn Bureau's Preventive Services program is nearly ten times larger than it was in 1980, offering intensive counseling and services to more than 500 at-risk families and 1,100 children each year.

A notable achievement of the Brooklyn Bureau under Ms. Santarsiero was its 9/11 Community Response Center. Within days of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, in collaboration with the New York Times 911 Neediest Fund, the Brooklyn Bureau launched an emergency relief effort for victims of the disaster and their families. The Community Response Center, as it would later be named, quickly became a vital source of support - a lifeline that over the next three years would assist more than 5,000 displaced workers and their families, a total of 12,500 persons. Hundreds of individuals, corporations and foundations joined the effort, contributing more than $9.6 million to keep people in their homes with food on their tables and to help them find new employment.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz praised Ms. Santarsiero for her dedication and service to Brooklyn. He added, "The Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service is one of the most effective and most respected service organizations, not just in Brooklyn, not just in New York City, but in the nation as a whole. The Brooklyn Bureau has improved the lives of countless children and families, adapting over its 141-year history to meet the needs of a growing population amid rapidly changing social and economic conditions. If the heart of Brooklyn is community, then the Brooklyn Bureau is what keeps our heart pumping!"

The Brooklyn Bureau Board of Directors initiated a comprehensive search process for Ms. Santarsiero's successor, and recently named Alan D. Goodman as the Brooklyn Bureau's next Executive Director. Mr. Goodman, most recently Executive Director of The American Red Cross September 11 Recovery Program, will assume his new responsibilities on November 5, 2007.

Mr. Mulder said, "We are excited about the future of the Brooklyn Bureau under Alan Goodman's leadership. His extraordinary experience as a leader with notable organizations such as The American Red Cross and The United Way equip him well to face the challenges that the Brooklyn Bureau addresses every day."

The Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service, founded in 1866, strives to empower its clients to achieve greater economic self-sufficiency and more rewarding participation in the community through programs that nurture and strengthen families, protect children, and enable individuals with disabilities to achieve their full potential. Through these services and advocacy, the Brooklyn Bureau works to build stronger and healthier individuals, families and communities.