St. Joseph Children’s Home announces new Chief Executive Officer
Amanda Gehring to succeed Grace Akers
After a comprehensive search process, St. Joseph Children’s Home announced today that it has hired Amanda Gehring, long-time Kentucky childcare advocate, as its next leader, succeeding Chief Executive Officer Grace Akers who announced her retirement in June.
Gehring, a statewide director at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, has served at the Cabinet in various roles with increased responsibilities since 1998.
She currently provides oversight to the nine regions serving all 120 Kentucky counties responsible for administering foster care, adoptions, child and adult protective services programs and public assistance programs. During her tenure at the cabinet, she helped improve the outcomes of public assistance programs, implementing creative team structures and collaborative spaces for cross-program leadership, and guided the Jefferson Service Region through COVID-19 and, in times of civil unrest, and ensured uninterrupted support to families.
“So much is changing in the child protective arena and Amanda’s experience at the Kentucky Cabinet will be important to the future of this organization,” said Cheryl Fischer, St. Joseph Children’s Home board chair. “St. Joe’s is a multi-faceted, child caring nonprofit and we are fortunate to have had Grace guide us through the last 10 years. As we begin a new chapter, we are excited to have another strategic leader in Amanda to provide inclusive, compassionate care that ensures a safe home and bright future for every child in our diverse community.”
“St. Joseph Children’s Home has always been a highly respected organization in the child protective industry and Grace Akers has been a tireless supporter of children in need. Being selected to preserve and advance the mission of St. Joe’s and build on the success Grace and the St. Joe’s team has achieved, will be the pinnacle of my career,” Gehring said. “I look forward to working closer with the excellent staff, board and community to ensure we protect the most vulnerable children in our region.”
Gehring will officially take office Jan. 1, 2025, and among her top priorities will be a capital campaign to develop therapeutic playgrounds for St. Joe’s residential and child development center children. The SJ@Play campaign is part of St. Joe’s long-range plan to improve the quality of care for the children it serves. The campaign follows a successful $19 million renovation of the aging Landmark building that doubled the amount of children St. Joe’s now serves. Visit sjkids.org to learn more about St. Joe’s and its mission.
St. Joe’s is a nationally accredited organization that remains a top tier agency in outcomes centered on finding families for vulnerable children. It facilitates the largest number of adoptions by any private any childcare facility in Kentucky and, since its founding more than 175 years ago, St. Joe’s has provided a safe and loving home to over 75,000 children, regardless of nationality, sexual orientation, race, or creed.
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