Phil Acord, CEO of Chambliss Center for Children, will retire in November after 50 years of employment with the organization. President Katie Harbison will become president and CEO, completing a five-year succession plan.
Acord, who began his career with the agency in 1971, will transition into the honorary role of CEO emeritus as Harbison, a 16-year employee with Chambliss Center, becomes president and CEO Nov. 12 and assumes oversight of the organization and its partner agencies’ $10 million budget and more than 300 employees.
During the planned five-year transition, Harbison worked alongside Acord as vice president and then president of Chambliss Center for Children.
Harbison is a native of Chattanooga who attended Baylor School and earned her bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
She is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga and a past board member and board president of both Youth Leadership Chattanooga and the local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Harbison recently served on the state of Tennessee’s Child Well-being Task Force and currently serves as co-chairman of the local Early Matters Coalition. She is also involved in both the child welfare system and the early childhood education arena.
Source: Chambliss Center for Children