BBBSMA VP OF PROGRAMS PROMOTED TO CHIEF IMPACT OFFICER

We are happy to share that Kara Stimpson, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta’s (BBBSMA) Vice President of Programs, has been promoted to the BBBSMA Chief Impact Officer (CIO). 

Kara Stimpson serves as the agency’s first Chief Impact Officer after joining BBBS of Metro Atlanta in January of 2022 as the VP of Program Services. In her first year with the agency, she led the Programs Team to increasing the number of youth served through mentoring by 27%, achieving the highest growth rate in any BBBS of America organization.  She led the team to build out a more robust Portfolio of Mentoring Programs to ensure the agency could expand its reach and relevance, breaking down traditional barriers for program participants.  In her new role of Chief Impact Officer, Kara is responsible for the continued strategic growth and development of the organization’s Programs with an intentional integration of Technology, a consistent eye on applying a JEDI lense to our work, and a commitment to ongoing and relevant training for staff and program participants. In summary, Kara will ensure that the work of our teams results in impact for the youth we serve now and those we will serve in the future. Prior to joining BBBSMA, Kara was a 21-year educator, most recently as an elementary and middle school principal in Atlanta Public Schools where she spent the previous decade. She is able to use her experience working cross-functionally to develop and implement transformative programs in schools to the work of growing programs at BBBSMA, ensuring that they are successfully delivered according to best practices in the field of mentoring, tracking Program data and outcomes, and ensuring alignment of our agency’s work so that we can best defend the potential of youth.

“Over the past year, Kara has done an amazing job growing our existing programs by over 27% while also streamlining and creating a new portfolio of mentoring programs,” said BBBSMA CEO, Kwame Johnson. “We have accomplished so far as an organization and look forward to how this new structure will help us better serve the youth of Metro Atlanta.”

We have experienced a tremendous amount of growth over the past two years and our new strategic planning process has surfaced the need for better alignment across the organization. As we expand our portfolio of mentoring programs and evolve, we need to ensure that we can synchronize the work of all departments to adequately support our growth.  

For this reason, BBBSMA CEO, Kwame Johnson, has created The Chief Impact Officer role. Creating a Chief Impact Officer position allows us to strategically align our work, ensure each initiative and project is supporting our overall strategic plan, and keeps us not only focused on our outputs but our youth-centered impact and outcomes.

“I am honored to have been named as our organization’s first Chief Impact Officer. The creation of this role speaks to where we are and where we are going as an organization. It demonstrates that we are focused on ensuring that everything we do and every decision we make puts the potential impact on youth at the forefront,” said Stimpson. “I look forward to continuing the work of innovative program growth, removing barriers to program participation, and integrating our Programs, IT, and Training/DEI departments so that we can be best poised to defend the potential of metro Atlanta youth.”