The Women’s Resource Center has found a new executive director after several months of searching, according to a news release from the organization.
Kathleen “Katie” Jones will begin her tenure March 2, the release said, and will be taking over for interim director Christy Schaerer.
Jones “brings more than 20 years of leadership experience addressing some of the world’s most complex challenges” to the role, according to the release.
Past positions held by Jones include humanitarian adviser with the United Arab Emirates Foreign Aid Agency, peace-building and humanitarian adviser with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chief of staff to the director general at COP28, also in the UAE, according to her LinkedIn page.
Jones has been working as a ceramic artist in Durango since September, according to her LinkedIn.
“Kathleen’s ability to lead with clarity, compassion, collaboration, and strategic focus makes her an exceptional fit for this moment in our organization’s history,” WRC Board President Ashley Truitt said in the release.
Jones could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The announcement comes after several difficult months for the center.
Former executive director Tammy Tyner left the center abruptly in November after nine years in the role, and died by suicide several days later.
The board, after initially declining to give a reason for Tyner’s departure from the executive director role, later said she had been fired.
In December, volunteers and staff members walked out amid allegations of unethical behavior and practices on the part of the board, and the center closed temporarily.
Allegations described a misuse of funds and “bullying” behavior from the board.
The board told The Durango Herald in a written statement that the allegations were “unfounded and potentially damaging to the vital mission of the WRC.”
Schaerer, who originally hired Tyner, was the former Women’s Resource Center program director from 2010 to 2016 and its former executive director from 2016 to 2023.
Schaerer has served in the interim role since mid-January, and told the Herald last month that she felt it was time to “step up again” and lend her knowledge and expertise to the organization.
After a several-month closure, the center has added a banner on its website announcing a reduced-hours reopening.
As of Wednesday, the banner said operating hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Thursday with a “full time schedule coming soon.”
epond@durangoherald.com
