On behalf of our Board of Directors, we are writing to announce AfiraDeVries as the new Chief Executive Officer of Monarch School Project effective August 17, 2020. DeVries most recently served as the United States Director of Spring Impact, a global nonprofit focused on scaling social impact solutions. Previous to that, she served as President & CEO for the United Way of the Roanoke Valley in Southwestern Virginia and Chief Development and Innovations Officer of United Way of Tampa, Florida. She succeeds Erin Spiewak, who held the post for eight years during which time the school successfully opened its current location at the Nat and Flora Bosa Campus.
All of us at Monarch School see an opportunity to increase our impact for students experiencing homelessness, and we are thrilled to have Afiralead us into this critical next phase of our development. Her experience as a seasoned non-profit executive combined with her work in bringing impact to scale make her the ideal next leader for Monarch. We are also incredibly grateful to Marisol Alvarado, our head of programs, for serving as Interim CEO and leading the organization’s successful response to families in need during the ongoing global pandemic.
Afira DeVries has enjoyed a two-decade career as a health and human services executive, successfully leading innovation and growth for six thriving nonprofit organizations. Having generated more than a quarter billion dollars in support of social innovation over the course of her career, her extensive development, leadership and programmatic design experience will contribute to the vision and strategic direction of the Monarch School Project.
Please see the below message from Afira:
Monarch School is well poised to build on its success in helping unhoused students learn the skills they need to set and accomplish their goals. We now have the opportunity to leverage the organization’s prior success to change conditions for youth at an even broader scale. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Monarch School in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education.
We are excited for what is to come at Monarch! We all thank you for your partnership in this work and are excited for the next chapter of Monarch School as we continue to educate students impacted by homelessness.
Rochelle Bold
Chair, Board of Directors
