Stronger Together

A Unified Central Region Opens More Opportunity

As unification is put into action for the Central Region, Regional Vice President Jon Ridge is focused on strengthening the existing programs and resources hallmarked by the six hostels in the region, complemented by new initiatives to drive mission growth, volunteer involvement, and a sense of personal fulfillment. 

“With a great staff already in place, we now need to build even stronger volunteer support to build hostelling throughout the region,” says Jon.

Looking ahead, Jon’s goals for the Central Region are to:

• Unify the Councils in this region, keeping solid programs and dedicated volunteers going strong.
• Strengthen our hostels by heightening our community presence and achieving greater awareness of our mission to support cultural exchange.
• Be known for quality, consistency, and rock-solid customer service.
• Love what we do and show it everyday, everywhere to everyone.

Two Regional Engagement Manager positions are the in the process of being filled, and for more information on open positions, refer to the Our People section.

The First On-Boarding Event Kicks Off in Chicago

On May 14, hostel staff from HI-Chicago, HI-Madison, HI-Malabar Farms, and HI-Mississippi Headwaters will meet in Chicago for unification on-boarding activities.  “A full day orientation, accompanied by fun activities” is the vision of Donna Stewart, Central Office Vice President of Human Resources.

Russ will open the day with a few remarks about unification and the values associated with it, after which attendees will have the chance to discuss what those values mean to them as staff.  Regional Vice President Jon Ridge will then make remarks and begin to get to know his new team.

New employees will also learn all about benefits, key contacts, and policies.   For current staff, it will serve as a welcome refresher.

This is the first of two on-boarding events for the Central Region.   Staff in the southern part of the region will meet later in the Spring once all Texas Councils are fully unified.  And looking beyond the Central region, other regions will follow a similar process to kick off unification, according to Donna.

Stay tuned for pictures in next month’s newsletter!

For questions, please contact Donna Stewart.

Stakeholder Surveys Influence Strategy Development

As HI-USA moves forward as a unified organization, the community, education, and hostels Resource Groups are helping influence organizational priorities and objectives.

Nearly 30 staff and volunteers were appointed to the Resource Groups in January to help formulate program strategies in each of the three program service areas.  Group participants began the process with online research and conversations with internal and external stakeholders to gain a deeper understanding of the trends and motivations influencing the 18-30-year old market.

An integral part of the information gathered was through the surveying of HI-USA staff and volunteer stakeholders.  The survey was aimed at soliciting diverse perspectives on the opportunities and threats that should be considered in developing program strategies.  In all, 94 responses were received, and each resource group reviewed a summary of the results during their face-to-face meetings.

"Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback and insight,” says Program Strategy Manager Danielle Brumfitt.  “It’s been invaluable for allowing the Resource Groups to move to the next phase:  strategy formation."

Throughout April, each group spent a day and a half in California to discuss the information gathered, as well as exchange ideas for programs to propel the entire network forward in support of our organizational vision and mission.  The diverse opinions have led to lively discussions and debates, a key step towards developing strategies everyone can feel good about.

Strategy formation will continue over the coming months, and we look forward to building off the momentum and excitement around this process and sharing our progress with you.

For questions, please contact Danielle Brumfitt.

Over 900 Friends Show Support for HI-Austin

Congratulations to HI-Austin for their victory a few weeks ago in renewing their lease to reside in the city park.  Led by Kassi Darakhshan, then Executive Director of the Southwest Texas Council, hostellers, friends of the hostel, and HI-USA were informed of the hostel’s daunting predicament.  Through press releases, social media, personal emails, and the tireless support of staff and volunteers, more than 900 people from around the globe expressed their support for the hostel, many writing lengthy comments about what HI-Austin and hostelling in general means to them.

At the City Council hearing, Kassi was armed with over 60 pages of personal statements.  It should come as no surprise that it was unanimously decided to renew the hostel’s lease.

This feat shows how much we can accomplish when we work together as a unified network.  What challenges do you have that your peers could help turn into a triumph?  Hostelling is something people are passionate about.  Let’s use that passion to our advantage.

Please contact Netanya Stutz with questions or for assistance in building a grassroots campaign.

New Job Openings Pouring In

Since the unification vote last June, many staff have visited HI-USA’s website for regular updates for news on job postings. And now that list of planned, posted, and filled positions is about to get much longer! To date, hiring has been focused on finance and administration personnel necessary to launch the unified organization. With those positions now filled and with the HI-USA Transition Board’s adoption of the FY 2013 budget in late March, the focus turns to wider staff recruitment and hiring.

In May, the hiring schedule for unified Central Office and regional staff positions will be released. This is what many have been waiting for! The listing will provide the projected posting date and start date for unified organization positions through 2014. Informative teleconferences will be convened for HI-USA and council staff to help explain the process moving forward.

Check the HI-USA Twitter feed for postings, or visit our website.

All posted positions will be open a minimum for 30 days. Visit regularly the HI-USA website for the most recent information, including employee teleconference times and dates.

New Leadership to Develop Information Technology Strategy

Michael Corcoran has been named Vice President of Information Technology for the unified organization.   Michael comes from the nonprofit, National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he spent the past 18 years leading strategic and technical technology oversight, involving an organization-wide network; financial, membership and development systems; intranet; and telecommunications.  The technology function that Michael managed at the National Trust supported over 400 users in 20 locations around the U.S. Michael is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and has an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business. 

A more robust technology function has an important place in HI-USA’s future as a networked national nonprofit organization.   As part of his early focus, Michael will play a critical role in developing strategy around the Cloud, Salesforce, a new and improved Intranet, and beginning to build a technology function to support the unified organization.  Michael will join us on May 7.

Finance and Human Resources Welcome New Staff

Shiquita Fleming, Accounts Payable Clerk

Please help welcome Shiquita Fleming, Accounts Payable Clerk, and Maria Medrano, Human Resources Generalist.

Prior to working for HI-USA, Shiquita was the Accounting Assistant for Massey Financial Services. In her new role in the Central Office, she will be responsible for the accounts payable function of our hostels and the Central Office, as well as for billing and processing payments for accounts receivable. Shiquita joined us on April 16.

Maria Medrano, Human Resources Generalist

On May 7, Maria will join our Human Resources team. Prior to her new role with HI-USA, Maria worked for M.Luis Construction as the Human Resources Director. In her new capacity at the Central Office, Maria will be involved in all aspects of Human Resources with primary responsibility for employee relations, benefits, and HR service delivery programs, which will be enhanced by her fluency in both English and Spanish.

We are very excited to have these talented additions to our team – it’s another big step forward in building the infrastructure to support a unified organization.