New director at Racker excited to lead

Earlier this month, the Racker Board of Directors announced that Cristine Donovan, current associate director of the organization, has been chosen as Racker’s new executive director. Donovan begins her new role July 1, replacing Dan Brown, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Donovan has over two decades’ worth of experience at Racker, beginning her career in Racker’s residential program in 1998 and quickly rising through the ranks. As Donovan explained, she’s excited for what her new role has in store.

Donovan has long had an interest of working with people with disabilities, she said. She grew up in Maryland and spent three weeks in New York City working for an agency that supported people with disabilities living in group homes. Then, in college, she majored in psychology, and after graduation, she started working in group homes in Virginia serving adults with disabilities.

Donovan and her husband moved to Ithaca in 1997, and Donovan started her career at Racker not long after. She explained what drew her to Racker and what’s made her stay with the organization for so long.

“Maybe two months after I started here at Racker, there was a newsletter that the executive director at the time, Roger Sibley, wrote each month,” she said. “And I read it and I took it home to my husband. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ I finally found the place where I knew I belonged because the values that mattered to me as an employee and as somebody serving people with disabilities came through loud and clear in the communication from the executive director.”

During her tenure, Donovan has provided oversight to all of Racker’s programs, including residential, community supports services, care management, clinical services, preschool and early childhood centers and counseling for school success, according to a recent press release. Donovan remarked on what she’s enjoyed most.

“I think that there’s been a lot of really incredible moments here,” she said. “For me, I have really appreciated getting better acquainted with our early childhood programs. When I started, it was mostly adults and kind of younger kids, but not so much the very, very young ages that those birth-to-5 kiddos are. And so, really understanding and seeing that on a day-to-day has been really impactful for me personally.”

Donovan added that her experience has shown her why Racker prioritizes an individualized approach.

“We’ve always been very individualized and really working to make sure that we’re hearing families and hearing people and trying to meet their individual needs as best as possible,” she said. “I’ve really tried to learn from people instead of thinking we know at all. And I think that that’s just something that has been interesting to see — as I’ve gotten to network across the state with different groups and organizations — that we really do do it differently.”

In addition to her extensive Racker experience, Donovan is also greatly involved in the community, serving on the boards of Cayuga Health System and LIFEPlan CCO and as board president of Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services (CARS). Donovan said she sees her work at these organizations as one way of “giving back” to her community.

“[CARS is] doing such important work, especially now,” she said. “If you look back over the last couple of years, being involved in the work of Cayuga Health System, where would we be without that support that they’ve provided to the community as a whole? So, just those two organizations for me have been really meaningful and important in the life of our community as a whole.”

Donovan said her approach to leadership has been influenced by her experience both at Racker and at other community organizations. For Donovan, leadership centers around supporting the “people doing the work.”

“The workforce is everything,” she said. “Nothing could really get done without really talented and skilled people doing work every day. And so, for me, it’s about listening to people. It’s about really understanding what the needs are in the community.”

Donovan has also had to navigate what she called “complicated systems,” especially since Racker is licensed by five different state agencies.

“Sometimes in one program, there are multiple people giving us directions about what we need to do and how we need to do it,” she said. “And so, I think that a lot of leadership in those types of situations is how do we help make that as easy as possible for people? So, how do we build systems that are going to be helpful and supportive of people? How do we try and minimize the intrusion that can happen with some different rules and regulations while still maintaining our commitment to following them?”

Racker staff and board members shared almost universal support for Donovan’s appointment. Max Della Pia, president of Racker’s Board of Directors, said in a press release that the executive director search was “a rigorous one,” but he’s glad Donovan was ultimately chosen.

“Cris Donovan was an easy choice because of: her demonstrated leadership, her work ethic, her attitude about those whom Racker serves, and her comprehensive knowledge and hands-on experience in virtually every aspect of Racker’s programs,” he said. “The decision of the board members was unanimous and enthusiastic. I know I speak for all the members of the Board and Racker’s staff when I say we all look forward to working with Cris to meet the challenges Racker will face going forward.”

Donovan said she’s similar response from the rest of the staff.

“It’s been very sweet and absolutely heartwarming, some of the different messages and notes and emails and things that I’ve gotten from people,” she said. “Because I’ve been around for a while, I know a lot of people. And people who have really seen me grow up here at Racker, they knew me … when I did all of these different roles. And so, it’s really been heartwarming, some of the different feedback that I’ve gotten.”

As previously mentioned, Donovan will be taking up the mantle soon to be left behind by Brown. She said Brown has left “big shoes to fill,” but she’s glad to be his successor. She spoke highly of Brown as well as Roger Sibley, the executive director before him.

“I’ve been here for 24 years, so I had the pleasure really of working with both Roger Sibley and Dan Brown,” she said. “And they were very different leaders, both very effective leaders, both great leaders, and I was really fortunate to have opportunities to be mentored by them, to see their work, to see the impacts that they had. … And also, I am so glad that [Dan’s] a good friend and is there to be helpful and supportive.”

Looking ahead, Donovan said her first few months will be focused around making new connections and strengthening current ones.

“It’s really getting out and talking to people and meeting with more staff and meeting some different community members and really working through where we are in our strategic plan and how to move forward with some of the different initiatives that we have going on around diversity, equity and inclusion and around resilience for staff as well,” she said.

Also on the horizon for Racker is the upcoming Racker Rivals Big Red 2022, the annual ice hockey game that helps raise awareness and funds for Racker. More information on the event can be found at racker.org/events/racker-rivals-big-red-2022/. For more information on Racker, visit racker.org.

Jessica Wickham is the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to them at editorial@VizellaMedia.com.