On Monday I begin work at Early Connections (EC) as the Vice President of Finance. I'm looking forward to this next chapter in my life. As I've mentioned to some of you already, no matter how much I wanted to work at Compassion, the position wasn't in the same category as the opportunity at EC. The position at EC is a leadership role, shows increased responsibility, and sets me on a different track (executive) for the long term.
EC is a small non-profit located near downtown. The organization is the oldest non-profit in Colorado - they've been around since 1897. In fact, the building I'll be working in was built in 1923 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. In general, the organization provides education and child care for families of limited means. About 50% of the children served come from single parent homes and about 40% come from families living at or below 140% of poverty. In addition to being responsible for all things Finance, I'll supervise three full time and I believe one part time staff in the department. It's pretty small financially speaking, but I think it will provide me experience in every aspect. I may end up staying for a long time (like most current employees have), but if not, I think it will be a good stepping stone to something great in the future. The size and work environment will also be a good place to cut my teeth and make some mistakes as well.
As far as salary goes, it pays about 15% more then what I was making at my previous position. However, when you factor in various benefits it's probably more around the range of a 10% increase. The good news is that it meets the amount I believe I needed to make should Stacey discover working from home with two kids too difficult. Since their health insurance premiums are too expensive for the family, I'll have to sign up for our own coverage. It's going to take me about 30 minutes each way to commute, but I don't mind since it's not traffic related. I actually like having a little bit of time in the morning and at night. I think Stacey and I are going to sign up for the YMCA again, since their downtown location is about a mile away from EC. Stacey and the family can just use the YMCA on this side of town and I can join them there on the weekends, etc. A couple of my friends from church also work about a mile away from EC, so we're probably going to finally start up the weekly or bi-weekly Bible study we've been talking about doing for awhile now.
We so excited.