Newsroom

Board taps proven leader as CEO

Rob Parker, a former executive with Boys and Girls Clubs of America, has been named as Kiwanis International’s new CEO/Executive Director. He was appointed by the International Board and succeeds Jeff Oatess, who filled the position on an interim basis following the resignation this past December of Eyjólfur “Eddie” Sigurdsson.

Kiwanis International CEO/Executive Director Rob Parker

An Indianapolis native, Rob has 25 years of high-impact, nonprofit leadership. Known as a growth-oriented executive with strong communication and team-building skills, Rob says he welcomes the challenge of helping lead Kiwanis toward its goal of 1 million members by 2015.

“I was attracted to Kiwanis because it is an organization that is dreaming big and has big ideas,” he notes. “It is encouraging to me that as Kiwanis approaches its 100th anniversary, we are not resting or coasting, but are accelerating aggressively toward a goal of reaching 1 million members. And the potential impact that 1 million Kiwanians can have on the world and its children is significant.”

No stranger to child-related causes, Rob’s leadership experience includes work with Boys and Girls Clubs on a city, state, and regional level. In 1999, he was appointed senior vice-president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rob founded The IMPACT group in 2003, serving as organizational consultant and executive coach, with a focus on strategic planning, executive team development, marketing and communications, fundraising, and board development. Though he is eager to put his background and experience to use for Kiwanis, he stresses his first few months will be a “discovery process.”

“I will be listening to others at numerous levels,” he explains. “I will listen to the Board and to the staff, and I want to talk with Kiwanians and nonmembers as well. I want to learn our strengths and where we come up short. I want to know what inspires people to be Kiwanians and what motivates them to invite others to join.”