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Honor the past, look to the future

from Bethesda's new President and CEO, Dr. John E. Bauer

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My love affair with Bethesda began almost twelve years ago. To be honest, when I was first elected to the Board of Directors in 1996 my motivation was to learn as much as I could about non-profit governance from an organization with an outstanding reputation. At the time, I was the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Wisconsin Lutheran College and was eager to explore other opportunities for professional development. It didn’t take long, however, before the mission of providing Christ-centered supports and services to people with developmental disabilities grabbed my heart. I was hooked.

In 2001 I was elected to serve as the Chairman of Bethesda’s Board of Directors. This brought me into a closer working relationship with Dr. David Geske and I quickly came to respect his knowledge and leadership. It was an exciting time as we worked to reorganize the boards while at the same time negotiating the affiliation with Good Shepherd Communities. In 2006 I came to work at Bethesda as the Merger Integration Manager, and later served as one of two interim chief operations officers.

As Bethesda’s new President and Chief Executive Officer I am humbled by the magnitude of the responsibilities that have been entrusted to me. But I have inherited a very talented senior leadership team. I am preceded by an exceptional leader. I know that we have thousands of hard-working and dedicated employees. And I will be working with two boards that are passionate about the mission of Bethesda.

Honoring and building on the past, we now turn our focus to the future and the challenges and opportunities it will bring. Bethesda is now a national – yes, even international – organization. We have just adopted an aggressive strategic plan which calls for continued growth while practicing rigorous stewardship of resources. We are committed to improving the professional stature of our employees. We are determined to ensure the highest quality of services by pursuing accreditation of all programs. And to accomplish these initiatives we will need much greater donor and volunteer support.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about the future of the organization I have come to love. But the love I feel for Bethesda is nothing compared to the love God has for us. To be able to experience the myriad ways God expresses his love through the people who serve and are served is sufficient to renew my love affair with Bethesda every day!