Deb Tibbetts Resigning from Role as Executive Director
After almost 8 years of service to Smart Start of Transylvania County (SSTC), Deb Tibbetts has announced her resignation from her role as the organization’s Executive Director, effective April 15, 2024. Her talent for innovation, passion for advocacy, and commitment to serving the youngest children in our community has resulted in tremendous growth for SSTC during her tenure, solidifying the organization as a leader in early childhood education and family support in Western North Carolina and across the state. Although her resignation leaves big shoes to fill, she has secured several sustainable funding streams during the course of her leadership, setting the organization up for long-term success following her departure.
“The board of directors appreciates Deb’s dedication as Executive Director over the past several years and her passionate support of children, families, and educators.” said SSTC board chair, Pam Pallas.
As a partner in the Smart Start Network, SSTC operates in alignment with North Carolina Partnership for Children’s goal of ensuring that all children thrive and have access to high-quality, comprehensive early childhood education. As a leader, Tibbetts has been consistently willing to take on new projects and creative approaches in pursuit of this mission. Her talent as a grant writer has ensured that SSTC has been able to appropriately fund and grow new project areas, in order to extend resources and support in our community to reach a greater number of educators, families, and children, across a wide variety of home environments and care settings. SSTC’s revenue more than quadrupled in the past 7 fiscal years, providing ample funding for the many new initiatives SSTC has undertaken in recent years.
In Transylvania County, ongoing projects implemented under Tibbett’s leadership include the Pathways Workforce Development Program, Family, Friend, and Neighbor Comprehensive Care Network, GetSet Babies Infancy Development Program, and Prosperity Wage Supplement Program. She has leaned heavily into collaborative work to extend the reach of SSTC’s impact, with the organization leading a regional partnership with Sesame Street in Communities, partnering with ETSU and WCU to conduct a region-wide Maternal Child Health research project, and serving as a member of two of Home Grown’s home-based care initiatives, Building Comprehensive Networks and Voices from the Home. The organizational growth has enabled SSTC to extend resources and support to underserved groups, including home-based care providers, part-time care providers, rural families with limited transportation options, and families without stable housing.
To support these many projects, Tibbetts has developed a team diverse in skill sets and backgrounds, providing supportive leadership that has empowered team members to lead and grow their individual program areas. The wisdom she has imparted and confidence she has instilled in her team will be invaluable as the organization works internally to sustain and expand these programs following her departure.
The Smart Start Board met on March 19th to discuss the development of a transition plan to follow Tibbett’s resignation. While the board begins the search process for a new Executive Director for SSTC, an Interim Executive Director has been appointed. A separate announcement detailing this transition will follow this press release.
Written by: Aiyanna Lollis and Published by: The Transylvania Times
