An Interview with the co-CEOs.
In 2010, Northern Adirondack Planned Parenthood merged with Planned Parenthood of Northern New York to become Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York (PPNCNY). Together, we serve five upstate New York counties: Clinton, Franklin, Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Jefferson.
Kathie Wunderlich will serve as CEO and Rick Bearup will serve as COO of PPNCNY. Their collaboration will help smooth the transition and create continuity of leadership in the new affiliate.
How did each of you come to be involved in Planned Parenthood?
Rick Bearup: I was working in manufacturing – all of my experience up to that point was in the for-profit world – when I saw an ad in the paper for a Finance Director position at Planned Parenthood of Northern New York. My wife has always been a supporter of Planned Parenthood and I was really interested in dipping my toe into the not-for-profit sector. I was hired and served as Finance Director for almost 8 years before becoming CEO of PPNNY in 2008.
Kathie Wunderlich: I have a long history in family planning. In 1971, I was a stay at home mom looking to get out. I became a nurse volunteer with Planned Parenthood of Minnesota. Since that first volunteer job, I have worked as a volunteer outreach worker, nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Quality Assurance Manager, Director of Patient Services and now CEO at several Planned Parenthood affiliates.
What excites you most about the merger?
Rick: Being a larger entity will give us more resources going forward. I am really excited about the fact that staff will now be able to specialize and use their strengths.
Kathie: We are thrilled that there will be more opportunities for staff mobility and development. We will be able to reduce duplication of efforts – that will make us stronger in this political and economic environment.
Rick: In addition, we are seeing an overall trend toward merger in the non-profit realm. This is true among Planned Parenthood affiliates especially.
What do you find most daunting?
Rick: For me, it is making sure everyone is on the same song sheet. We are doing two things: establishing systems – creating them is a step-by-step process that’s time consuming but not difficult – and meshing cultures. That is the hard part. It’s all about communications.
Kathie: That’s absolutely right. There are a lot of details related to merger. But even more crucial is making sure that we are communicating well with four very different groups of people: our donors, Board, Staff, and Planned Parenthood colleagues. You will notice, though, that we didn’t even mention working with the state of New York on the bureaucratic end…that’s not daunting, really, but it sure has taken a lot of patience!
How will you divide the work as CEO and COO?
Rick: I will be handling operations – that encompasses clinical, finance and information technology, and human resources.
Kathie: I will oversee education and community services, advocacy, and fund development. We will focus on individual areas but we will share overall responsibility.
Rick: We’ll be doing a lot of communicating back and forth.
How will you handle the geographic distance between the health centers and different offices?
Kathie: We should have said this was daunting, too! We were talking today about how great it would be to have a helicopter! Technology is the number one way we’ll work to surmount that distance.
Rick: PPNNY made a major investment at the end of 2008 for videoconferencing equipment for both affiliates. It is not perfect but it has helped a lot. It is 200 miles from Plattsburgh to Lowville.
Kathie: That’s a lot of road with very little cellular phone access. Our Boards have also talked about doing web based meetings, but are already working together using video and teleconferencing.
What can supporters of Planned Parenthood expect to see happening in the next few months?
Kathie: An announcement that New York State has finally approved merger! We have a first year focus on facilities and security, team building, and preparation for expansion of abortion services.
Rick: We will also be improving on existing organizational networks with other agencies and social service and health care providers. And, of course, meeting with supporters. We’ll be seeing donors one-on-one and in groups and holding friend raisers. You’ll certainly be hearing from us!
