Five Questions

from GO Chamber - Summer 2022

Leadership Owensboro

GO CHAMBER . SUMMER 2022 5 Five Questions

WITH KARLA WARD INTERVIEWED BY ASHLEY WEDDING PHOTO BY JAMIE ALEXANDER

5ONE THREE

FOUR WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER? Great employees are everything to success. Engaged board members are everything to success. You can’t do the work without them. I am one person, but collectively we make the agency successful. You can’t create an environment welcoming for clients and guests without employees who love what they do. Those things take time to build but once you do you can do amazing things.

TWO FIVE

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS NEW IN THEIR CAREERS? Follow your passion! It took me three years to find that this was where I was supposed to be all along. Don’t be afraid. Take the leaps of faith and keep a healthy balance between work and family. You can do both and still be successful.

Karla Ward is the Executive Director of New Beginnings, an Owensboro-based nonprofit that offers confidential crisis and long-term therapy services to sexual assault survivors of all ages, as well as their family and friends. Karla started her career in January 1998 as Community Educator. During her tenure, she was interim director on a couple of occasions before permanently taking the Executive Director position in 2007. Karla started this role with five board members, a staff of six and a budget of about $400,000. Since that time, New Beginnings has grown to 18 board members, a staff of 19 and a budget of $1.2 million, giving them the ability to provide even more services across the seven counties they serve. Her leadership and dedication to her work earned Karla the prestigious Athena Award from Girls Inc., in partnership with the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS OWENSBORO’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE/GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH? I think our greatest challenge is the workforce. I know we have shortages in our field for clinicians and we aren’t alone. There are many sectors experiencing that. Our greatest potential for growth though is keeping our youth here. We have great college and university options to start that process. If we can encourage them to stay in Owensboro for WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST DREAM/HOPE FOR NEW college, we have a better chance of them calling this home. BEGINNINGS AND ITS ROLE IN OUR COMMUNITY? I wish more people knew about us. While I feel we have come a long way in getting our name out there, I inevitably will always run into someone who has HOW CAN WE, AS CITIZENS, BECOME never heard of us. And you know, given what we do that may be a good thing. But we always want individuals to know we are free and available if they do MORE INVOLVED AND BETTER SERVE need us. I hope to expand funding even more because we know the statistics OUR COMMUNITY? of sexual trauma. We know a lot of individuals that are incarcerated, homeless, There are so many volunteer opportunities in this or use substances have a history of sexual trauma. We still have a lot of work community. Don’t wait for someone to ask you. to do. If you have a passion for a nonprofit, reach out to them. You can be board members, advocates, home sitters for the elderly, read with a child, be a mentor and so on. There are some amazing organizations in Owensboro who would love to have you. But most importantly, when you commit to the organization, be engaged as well. Engagement equals success for you and them.

25 GO CHAMBER . SECOND EDITION 2021