We are excited to announce a few important changes to BlackOak’s Executive Team!
At the end of this week, Kiera Givens will officially step down as our Executive Director. Kiera has led BlackOak gracefully since 2020. Throughout the years, she has simultaneously worked a full time job, matriculated through her graduate studies at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, and gotten married, all while being our fearless leader taking on all ED duties for BlackOak. We are so grateful that we were able to be led by such a thoughtful, strategic, and ambitious Black Woman. With that said, Kiera won’t be going far, and she will continue to serve our community in a new capacity as our Financial Director.
Moving forward, the role of Executive Director will be filled by Wes Gobar. Wes has served the BlackOak community tremendously as our former Director of Outreach and Communications. As a longtime colleague and friend of Wes, I can confidently say that the future of our organization is in the hands of a very talented, passionate, and people oriented person. We can’t wait to see how you continue to serve BlackOak!
Lastly, in addition to the Executive Director transition, we are excited to announce that we will be onboarding an Events Director soon! We are delighted to provide even more events and interactive experiences for our members and for Black students through our Green Gateways Program. Get ready for even more opportunities to connect and network with the BlackOak family and our strategic partners!
Check out our transition video, linked here, to hear more details from Wes and Kiera directly regarding this announcement.
We are so proud of this community and our growth! As we enter our third year, BlackOak is now a 200+ member network that works daily to boost Black recruitment, retention, innovation, and belonging across environmental fields. Ultimately, our success is thanks to each and every one of you who has chosen to join our community.
As always, we welcome your input, your insights, and your questions as our Executive Team works to continue that success moving forward! Please feel free to reach out to Wes over email ([email protected]) or email me to set up an Office Hours appointment (Wednesdays from 7-9pm) to discuss the future of BlackOak with our new Executive Director!
