Dear Friends,

After nearly 13 years leading the ACLU of Texas, I’m moving on.

The everyday challenges have been rewarding. As an organization, we have sharpened our focus on reforming criminal justice; stopping atrocities on the border; protecting access to abortion in Texas; safeguarding the right to vote; and promoting every Texan’s rights to love anyone, live and work anywhere they want. Fighting this state’s extremist leadership is always fulfilling and, seemingly, a never-ending battle.

When I joined as Executive Director in January 2008, I set out to achieve several daunting goals. First and foremost, I wanted to raise the organization’s profile so that it would be the “go-to” civil liberties organization of Texas. I wanted to create an environment that would allow us to recruit professionals who looked like Texas and who would approach their work with a strategic and innovative, even entrepreneurial, spirit. I aimed to shape an organization that provided tangible results so supporters could feel confident investing their money with people who shared their passions for a better Texas. With that support, we grew our budget by nearly 1000 percent, enabling us to expand our footprint from one office to five, our staff from eight to more than 60, and elevate our compensation and benefits to set the ACLU of Texas apart from other state-based social justice organizations. We can check these things off.

Now it’s time to broaden and add to those goals and it’s time for another group of leaders to take that on.

We are beginning the transition – my last day is October 31 – but we wanted you to know you will soon be hearing about the search for the next Executive Director of the ACLU of Texas. As I move on to new adventures, the current senior staff is exceptionally confident they can keep everyone’s eyes on the mission. They are certain they will never lose sight of our vision for a better Texas, the one we all deserve.

None of those big goals I set for myself all those years ago ever could have been achieved without all of you offering your time, talent and treasure to support this important, and essential, organization. Thank you for taking time to visit with me and supporting and making possible our ongoing work.

Onward,
Terri