INDIANA – Today, the Indiana Region of the American Red Cross announced that Regional Chief Executive Officer, Chad Priest will be departing his role to become Vice President of the Southwest and Rocky Mountain division of the American Red Cross effective Oct. 16.
Priest will oversee all humanitarian service activities in the largest Red Cross division in the country, which includes Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
“The Indiana Region is home to innovators and compassionate individuals who care a great deal about our neighbors and communities,” said Priest. “Our staff, volunteers, and board members take our mission to heart, and it shows in their selfless service every day. It’s been an honor and privilege to serve alongside these humanitarians for the last seven years.”
His tenure at the Red Cross Priest has revolutionized the Red Cross’s strategic approach to supporting communities by developing resilience zones – a first-of-its-kind approach to implementing Red Cross programs that promotes and supports a community’s ability to recover and thrive after a disaster. He has also advanced the organization’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts to reconfigure priorities that encourage representation and participation of diverse groups of people in our service delivery among our internal and external stakeholders.
In 2020, he led the region through the COVID-19 pandemic by building a coalition of more than 60 nonprofit organizations and community partners to develop the “Have the Talk” campaign – an all-inclusive, public-facing promotion of evidence-based approaches to vaccine dialogue and acceptance. He also partnered with the United Way of Central Indiana and the Salvation Army to support leaders from the Indianapolis non-profit community as they responded to COVID.
“Under Chad’s tenure, our region has successfully navigated through some unprecedented challenges, but he persisted in pioneering inventive strategies to our service delivery to better serve our communities across Indiana and parts of Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio, said Dr. Genevieve G. Shaker, Greater Indy Chapter board president. “Our region is in a better position than ever before thanks to Chad’s forward-thinking and bold approach. We wish him the best in his new role.”
The organization will immediately begin the search for the next regional CEO. Courtney VanJelgerhuis, the region’s Chief Operating Officer, will serve as the interim Chief Executive Officer.
