As many of you are aware, Noah recently left the Fenton to take a position at the county level working with non-profits. The Board began a search to locate an Interim Director to lead the Fenton during the interval required to find a new permanent Director. We were fortunate to make contact with Lisa Goodell and persuade her to take on this most important task during this transition time. Lisa has included her Autobiography below so I will not rewrite that here. Suffice it to say that she settled into the job in minutes, delving into the current active projects, reviewing finances, getting to know the staff, and generally looking like she has been running the place for years. Her outreach to Board members and employees for clarification on unfamiliar items was immediate and without ego. We anticipate that she will hand the Fenton over to the new Director in a seamless manner. Welcome Lisa.
After graduating from Bowling Green State University with a BA degree in Child Development and Social Work I spent two years working as a Social Worker with young adults and children in Toledo, Ohio. When the opportunity to travel presented itself, I packed my bags and took off for the West Coast. After several months of traveling cross country, camping and grand adventures of sight, sound and majestic views, I landed in Lake Tahoe Nevada where our traveling funds ran out. We camped here for several more months enjoying the beauty of the area. I held positions as a Social Worker, Director of Development and Assistant Director for a school for special needs children while enjoying camping and hiking through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. After seven years in Nevada, I relocated to Santa Monica, CA and began what would become over 36 years of non-profit management, starting as the Director of Education and Programs at Sensory Integration International in Torrance California. While in California I went back to California State University and received my Master’s Degree in Public Administration. In 1986 I returned to Western New York where I spent ten years as the Assistant Executive Director of Programs for Friends of Cazenovia Manor in Buffalo. In 1996 I moved to Jamestown to become the Executive Director of the Girl Scouts of Western New York where I worked until they merged twelve years later with the Buffalo and Rochester Girl Scouts. I then became the Executive Director of the Chautauqua Blind Association where I stayed for another twelve years until my retirement in November 2020. I’m currently back in school studying to acquire certification in aromatherapy. When I’m not working or taking classes I enjoy creating mosaic art, gardening, hiking and family.
