Big Brothers Big Sisters Announces New Executive Director

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa has recently announced the hiring of Katie Orlando to serve as Executive Director of the nonprofit agency. Katie will oversee day-to-day operations of the organization with a focus on fund development and donor stewardship. She will also work toward carrying out the mission and Strategic Plan of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa.

Katie comes to Iowa with over 4 years of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) experience and 15 years of nonprofit and higher education experience in the Northeast, recently serving as the Executive Director of BBBS of Greater Manchester (NH) and Vice President of Development of BBBS New Hampshire following a statewide BBBS agency merger.

Katie is looking forward to getting back to leading a local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency and making a difference in the lives of many youth. “I am honored to be selected to lead such a strong agency in a community that cares so much about its youth and their future.  I am excited to meet agency supporters and program participants so we can work together to make an even bigger impact in our community.”

This week Katie will be traveling to Philadelphia to attend the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America National Conference to accept a prestigious Quality Award.  This award is only given to select agencies nationwide who excel in the service they provide to their community as evidenced by the impact achieved in the youth they serve.  This will be Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa’s second consecutive year receiving this award, an extremely rare feat only achieved by a handful of other agencies nationwide.   In 2014, the average length of each Big/Little match relationship in Northeast Iowa was over 3 years and the quality of support professional BBBS staff gave to program participants was among the top in the country out of all other BBBS agencies.

Katie is a graduate of Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA with a degree in History, Political Science and Latin American Studies. Five generations ago her family originated from Iowa and Katie now resides in Waterloo.  Katie has also served as a Kiwanian for 12 years and recently joined the Kiwanis Club of Waterloo to carry on this tradition of giving back to her local community.

For more information or to get involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa, call 319-235-9397 or visit www.iowabigs.org.