Devereux’s New Chief Operating Officer

I am pleased to announce that long-time Devereux employee, Maggie McGill, has been named Chief Operating Officer at Devereux. Maggie had most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, but her career with Devereux goes back much further.

Maggie started working for Devereux in 1975 as a residential care provider at our Kanner Center in West Chester, working primarily with children with autism. Maggie excelled in this role. She was well liked by our clients and their parents, as well as the staff with whom she worked. While well suited in this position, Maggie had other aspirations.

In 1984, then Devereux President & CEO, Ron Burd, was impressed with Maggie as he watched her sitting on the floor working with the children. Ron pulled Maggie aside and asked her what she would like to be doing with her career at Devereux. Maggie responded, “I want to go back to school and become Devereux’s Chief Financial Officer.”

While not the response Ron expected, he was nonetheless taken with her ambition and in 1990, awarded Maggie the first-ever Weaver Falberg Leadership Fellowship Promise. This annual award recognizes one individual with outstanding leadership potential, who is an exemplary role model and demonstrates a solid commitment to the mission of Devereux.

With this award came a scholarship that Maggie used to pursue an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Twelve years after completing her MBA, in 2004 Maggie was named Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Maggie’s success with Devereux as a residential care provider, supervisor, operations manager, Chief Financial Officer, and now Chief Operating Officer is rooted in her commitment to the mission of Devereux.

Her clear understanding of the important work Devereux does, has served her well in the thirty-three years she has been with Devereux and will serve her well as she helps lead us to Devereux’s 100^th anniversary.

I hope you will join me in wishing Maggie much success in her new role with Devereux.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As 2007, Devereux’s 95^th year, draws to a close,  I am very pleased with the work of the Devereux team this year, work both in the care of our consumers and in our care of our organization. Clearly, there can be no consumer care without a viable organization! It was a great year from several perspectives: in terms of client safety (major injuries decreased), employee satisfaction (turnover declined), community support (number of major donors increased), and financial strength (liquidity and fund balances increased while debt declined).  Additionally, during 2007, Devereux’s endowment increased by more than $25 million through the sale of two major pieces of real estate, one in Pennsylvania and one in California.  

A highlight of this year was the 95^th Anniversary Gala in November; this was a world class party attended by four hundred supporters at the Philadelphia Seaport Museum. It was our privilege to honor the Genuardi family for their long-standing and generous support of both Devereux and other critical charities in the region. During the celebration, we awarded the annual Weaver E. Falberg Leadership Promise Fellowship to support the graduate education of one of our outstanding staff members.  Through the generosity of the sponsors and a matching gift of the net proceeds by our Board leadership, the Gala raised almost $500,000 for Devereux’s Pennsylvania programs.

On a less positive note, the Federal government continued its efforts to reduce Medicaid expenditures. The reduction affects Devereux in two ways. First through audits, either state-wide or program specific, which search for non-compliance with federal requirements. Second,  draft regulations will negate the Medicaid coverage of long-standing approaches to consumer care. Although the direct risk from these initiatives to Devereux is modest, the potential impact on the states is catastrophic. Added to the very negative trends in state budgets – California and Florida are already forecasting enormous deficits for fiscal 2009 – public funding for the care of the intellectually disabled and behaviorally challenged will almost certainly be negatively impacted. 

Another major challenge for Devereux is the rapid growth of its major for-profit competitors.  Although Devereux is the largest non-profit provider in the country, two for-profit providers have rapidly grown to four times the size of Devereux, and these providers are formidable competitors.   

As we head into 2008, I anticipate the following critical work in front of us.   

• With the support of the Board of Trustees and the encouragement of many staff, we are undertaking a major “green” initiative. To this end, we will review our facilities, transportation, technology, and waste to find economical ways to reduce consumption of natural resources
  
• We are rapidly upgrading our marketing capacity to effectively compete with the major for-profit organizations. 
  
• We are also building upon the success of our outstanding prevention programs, including the resiliency-based Devereux Early Childhood Initiative and School-wide Positive Behavior Supports.  Specifically, we will be aligning resources, conducting research and forging community-based partnerships to ensure the continued development and adoption of cost effective, evidenced-based and sustaining prevention programs that improve outcomes for children and adolescents. 
  
•  In order to support our employees in healthful lifestyle choices, we are offering a significant discount on employee medical insurance if employees complete a health assessment, obtain age and gender appropriate diagnostic evaluations, and take steps to address the serious health issues of smoking and obesity. Through a partnership with NutriSystem, we will offer a weight reduction program to employees at a sharply reduced cost (and I will be among the first participants in this weight reduction program). 
  
• Through increased staff tuition assistance, we will increase our support for the continuing training and education of our staff. We view the training of our staff as critical to the execution of our mission and the optimization of our own best practices.  

I thank all of you who have helped build this wonderful organization and deliver on our mission: 

Devereux changes lives and nurtures human potential. We inspire hope, ensure well-being, and promote meaningful life choices.  

Happy New Year.

 

Fiscal Year 2007 Ends on a Positive Note

Devereux has closed the books on fiscal year 2007, which ended on June 30, and it was an extraordinary year for Devereux.  A safer environment for our consumers and employees, a more stable workforce, wider support from our communities and financial success led to making this an excellent year.  Some of our specific organization-wide achievements included: 

• The number of donors supporting Devereux at $1,000 or above during the year was above 750, exceeding the target by almost 10%.
• Normalized operating earnings continued a positive four-year trend to the highest level in many years.
• Risk management expenses were 20% below the annual target.
• Employee turnover was below the annual target.

Strong financial results for fiscal year 2007 were primarily driven by outstanding Center operating results, more than $3,000,000 better than what was budgeted. Residential census grew significantly in the fourth quarter and this trend provides strong operating momentum going into fiscal year 2008.   

Almost $6 million in non-operating gain was provided by the sale of Pennsylvania real estate. Together with the strong operating results, this real estate gain enabled us to post what we believe is the highest excess of revenues over expenses in Devereux’s history.

Some other notable factors that led to our success include investment earnings that were slightly ahead of plan, but because of another strong performance by Devereux’s investment portfolio, unrealized gains increased by more than $8.8  million for the year. Also, a major bequest enabled Devereux to meet its 2007 fund raising goal. In addition, a major four-year commitment was received from the Marcus Foundation to support the expansion of Devereux’s Center for Effective Schools into the Atlanta School System.

The employment of the best and brightest is a good way to insure Devereux’s future and fiscal year 2007 was a very successful recruiting year for key Devereux positions. We filled four vacant center clinical director positions and two senior corporate clinical positions. Our national marketing capacity was enhanced by recruiting two senior professionals, one from inside Devereux and one from a major competitor, as well as several new center marketing directors. We were also able to attract a leading recruiting consultant to join Devereux, and most recently we added a very experienced finance and business development professional to lead the effort to market our intellectual properties.

During fiscal year 2007, we also developed and adopted a new mission statement and a statement of core values: 

Our Mission

Devereux changes lives and nurtures human potential.  We inspire hope, ensure well-being, and promote meaningful life choices.  Our mission is achievedthrough a wide range of services and supportsfor individuals and their families. 

Core Values 

We support a respectful and integrated team approach.We foster personal and professional growth of our staff.We develop innovative and effective solutions.We partner with families and communities.  

Together with the Strategic Plan developed in fiscal year 2006 and the Philosophy of Care developed in fiscal year 2005, we have a clearer sense of direction for Devereux’s long-term success, a direction that is supported by an ever widening range of stakeholders.

With key staff additions, our strong operating momentum, the sharply increased strength of our balance sheet and our clearly outlined strategic direction, we are very well positioned for the future. As we prepare to celebrate Devereux’s 95^th anniversary, we will reflect on our commitment to fulfill Miss Devereux’s dreams for her clients. We must continually strive to be the Provider of Choice, the Employer of Choice, and the Charity of Choice.                                                               

 

September Devereux Board Meeting

Last weekend Devereux’s Board of Trustees met in one of their four annual meetings – this time near Denver, Colorado. Each of our Board meetings is held close to one of Devereux’s centers, so that Board members and senior Devereux staff can visit a program and interact with clients and staff. It is always a great reminder of why we are proud to be involved with Devereux.

On Friday, senior Colorado staff gave the Board an overview of a new vocational program developed over the last two years for the adolescents with mental health challenges who are served in our Colorado Center. The program, which this year was honored with the “Quality Star” award as the outstanding quality improvement initiative across Devereux, creates a wide range of vocational options on the campus - from landscaping, to office supply management, to food service. Clients prepare resumes and are interviewed for each job, developing critical life skills. Each job is performed under the direction of a staff member who serves as a job skills trainer and a mentor in understanding the expectations of an employer.

The most sought after campus jobs are in the newly created “Duke’s Diner”, a restaurant opened to staff, visitors, and clients for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Student jobs include food preparation, host/hostess, and waiter/waitress. The restaurant honors John Wayne ( “Duke”) , an active supporter of our Colorado programs. John Wayne’s college fraternity, Sigma Chi, at his request, built the current gymnasium on the campus as a national service project in the 1970’s. The restaurant features many pictures of Mr. Wayne and plays his movies continuously. After the conclusion of the Board meeting on Saturday, many of us toured the campus, winding up at Duke’s Diner for lunch. I highly recommend the “True Grit Buffalo Burger”.

My Presidents’ report in the Board meeting noted some of the recent significant accomplishments of the organization, but focused on long-term challenges – issues which keep me up at night. How can we continue to recruit a high quality workforce over the coming decade? How can we maintain organizational memory in the age of the paperless office? How can we make good decisions about long-term assets like real estate in such a fast changing industry? And, how can we more effectively communicate with all of our stakeholders? The text of my remarks to the Board is here.

As always, it was very inspiring to meet with our Board, eighteen leaders from across the country who understand the importance of the work Devereux does and volunteer their time to support our long-term success.

 

Organizational Update

I am very pleased to announce that, effective September 1, Gail Atkinson will become Vice President of Operations, with oversight of Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and California. Pam Helm will be promoted to succeed Gail as Executive Director of our Texas Center.

In our most recent strategic planning process, we identified the goal of being the “Employer of Choice” as absolutely critical to our continued success. I believe that these two promotions constitute very important positive steps toward achievement of this goal – for two reasons.

First, our ability to develop leadership talent within Devereux is impressive. Of Devereux’s fifteen senior corporate officers, Gail is one of four who joined Devereux soon after graduation and have been with Devereux for more than thirty years. Since I became President-Elect of Devereux two and a half years ago, three Executive Directors moved into Corporate roles and two Executive Directors retired; all five new Executive Directors, like Pam, came from within the organization.

Second, we are proud of the increasing presence of women in our leadership team. It seems absolutely fitting for women to take leadership roles in an organization founded by a woman! Ten years ago, no Senior Vice Presidents or above were women, and only one Vice President was a woman. Today, three of four Senior Vice Presidents, six of the fifteen senior corporate officers, and seven of fourteen Center Directors are women.

Nevertheless, despite our strong commitment to diversity in our workforce, our record of hiring and promoting minorities to leadership positions is still not as strong as I, and Devereux, would like. While we certainly have more work to do, we are deeply committed to continuing our efforts to assure that we afford career development opportunities for all people in our organization and that we maintain an organizational culture that is attractive and nurturing for all people – regardless of their gender, background, beliefs, or disabilities.

Recognizing and promoting excellent employees, and continuing to build the diversity of our workforce, are two critical elements of being the Employer of Choice.