Melanie Kagan Appointed as CEO
The Center for Family Resources (CFR) announced today that Melanie Kagan will succeed Jeri Barr as the Chief Executive Officer, effective July 15, 2019. Jeri Barr, who has served as CEO since 1984, announced her retirement as CEO and will remain with the organization through August 16, 2019 to assist in the leadership transition.
“On behalf of our Board of Directors, we would like to thank Jeri for her tenure as CEO and the tremendous impact she has made not only at the CFR, but nonprofit organizations throughout Cobb County and beyond,” said Don Keller, the CFR Board Chair. “We are pleased to appoint Melanie as Jeri’s successor, the fifth CEO in the CFR’s nearly 60-year history. She has a strong passion for community development and creating solutions that will have a lasting impact on pressing social issues. Our board of directors is confident that Melanie will successfully lead the CFR into this next chapter.”
“I am thrilled with the board’s selection of Melanie as my successor,” stated Jeri Barr. “The timing is right for a leadership change and my retirement. I am proud to “pass the baton” to Melanie to continue our philosophy of moving people to self-sufficiency through financial stabilization, housing and education.”
Melanie has more than 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit field in leadership positions that include fundraising, policy and advocacy, nonprofit management and program oversight. She has spent the last two years as the Northwest Regional Director for the United Way of Greater Atlanta where she had oversight of Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas and Paulding Counties.
Prior to relocating to Cobb County, she held leadership positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico and the United Way of Central New Mexico. Melanie was honored as both a Women of Influence in 2016 and a 40 Under 40 young professional in 2017 by the Albuquerque Business Journal. She currently serves on the boards of the Cobb Collaborative and Georgia Metro Dance. Melanie and her husband Maxwell, along with their five children, reside in Cobb County.