PRESS ADVISORY

September 30 , 2006

Contact: 
Kate Cudlipp
(202) 387-6383
kateycud@comcast.net

JILL JOHNSON DEPARTS FOR LOVE OF CHILDREN
TIMOTHY PAYNE NAMED INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Washington, D.C. (September 30, 2006) –The board of directors at For Love of Children (FLOC) today announced the departure of Jill Johnson as executive director, effective today.

Acting in the interim will be Director of Programs Timothy Payne. Among other achievements, Payne has successfully shaped and strengthened FLOC’s signature “back-to-basics” tutoring initiative. NTP has a proven track record of consistently bringing students to grade level in math and reading. With only 22 hours of direct instruction, students achieve an average improvement of one year in math and reading skills.  Payne’s development of this program has earned FLOC near-continuous accolades for superior out-of-school time educational programming.  

FLOC Board President Kate Cudlipp thanked Johnson for her service, noting that as executive director Johnson led FLOC through the final phases of a very challenging transition plan, and that she leaves the organization on firm financial footing.

“Jill has shown great discipline and focus in helping FLOC become the leaner, meaner organization that it is today,” said Kate Cudlipp. “And, more importantly, her passion for the mission, her high regard for the children we serve, has been at the foundation of all her efforts.  Jill had many hard decisions to make, but she made them unflinchingly, while never losing sight of the purpose behind the work – helping to close the educational advantage gap for our city’s most vulnerable children.”

Johnson’s career path will take her on to pursue a graduate degree in public policy, where she will transfer to an academic setting her real world experience in developing the effectiveness and sustainability of nonprofit organizations.

“I have been hugely inspired by the fierce tenacity of the students I’ve met here at FLOC,” said Johnson. “We can all learn tremendous lessons from the determination these kids have to do well. They want to succeed. They want to go to college. Through FLOC, more and more of them are getting that opportunity.  I’m very pleased to have been part of that effort.”

For Love of Children is a Washington nonprofit that, since 1965, has been at the center of the movement that challenged the City’s response to the needs of our most vulnerable children and families. FLOC has always relied on its client communities to help design the innovative programs in foster care, experiential education, and family support, for which it became known.  Today, FLOC's highly focused mission centers squarely on education. Through a continuum of tutoring, academic enrichment, educational counseling, scholarship support, leadership training, and experiential education programs, our mission is to give young children and high-risk youth opportunities to achieve educational success, as the most effective tool for breaking the cycle of poverty.