The Board of Directors of Vermont Works for Women (VWW) has appointed Angela J Wells, of Richmond, as interim executive director of the $1.7 million nonprofit organization based in Winooski. Wells brings to the organization more than a decade of experience in business operations, systems creation and team/leadership development, following the departure of Tiffany Bluemle who served as executive director for the past 17 years. Bluemle departed the organization to lead an independent partnership between the Vermont Women’s Fund, the Vermont Commission on Women, and Vermont Works for Women. This new coalition, now in development, will seek to improve women’s economic security throughout the State of Vermont by leveraging resources and aligning organizational voices, so that the choices women and girls make about work and school reflect aspiration, ability, access and exposure to a full range of options.
Under Wells’ leadership, Vermont Works for Women management and staff will continue development and implementation of a refreshed strategic plan, as well as further evolving long-term systems, structures and funding for the nonprofit’s continued growth.
“Angela quickly emerged as our standout candidate for interim ED,” said Amy Wright, board chair, Vermont Works for Women. “We are eager to tap into her organizational management expertise and team-building experience in order to expand on the great successes we have known under Bluemle’s leadership.”
A native Vermonter, Wells formerly served as director of professional revenue at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (2011-2015) in Burlington, as well as director of professional revenue cycle at the University of Vermont Medical Center, among several other managerial positions at the hospital (1999-2010). She earned a master of arts degree in organizational leadership from Ashford University, Davenport, Iowa, in 2010. She has also worked as a coach and professional development consultant as part of her own business, Professional Development Partners based in Richmond.
“Tiff has built a community brand known for supporting women in Vermont Works for Women,” Wells said, “along with a really strong team of committed professionals, both of which I’m excited and honored to have the opportunity to work with.”
Wells has worked a job since the age of 15 and says her long-ago experiences as a young, single mother with few employable skills connect her viscerally to the mission of VWW in training and supporting women to overcome employment barriers and move toward greater economic self-sufficiency. Currently, the nonprofit organization’s three strategic areas include: 1) moving women into employment success; 2) providing training and access to non-traditional careers that pay higher wages; and 3) investing in the next generation by building leadership capacities in girls. During 2014, Vermont Works for Women's programs served more than 1,200 women and girls, ages 10-60, from diverse backgrounds across the state.