Joel Pomerenk Named Interim CEO
Cara Collective and its Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Joel Pomerenk to Interim CEO, effective Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
The appointment comes as outgoing President & CEO Maria Kim transitions into her new role as President of REDF, a national venture philanthropy based in California, following 15 years of service to the Cara enterprise.
Pomerenk has served as Chief Financial Officer for Cara Collective since August 2019 and has led the Finance & Accounting, Contracts & Compliance, Human Resources, Facilities, and Solutions teams in that time. He joined Cara from Oracle Corporation, where he was Finance Vice President.
“Joel has been an invaluable addition to the leadership of Cara Collective and instrumental in its growth and stability, particularly in this past year,” said John Walden, Chair of Cara’s Board of Directors. “We’re thankful to him for lending his expertise to ensure our search committee can remain steadfast as we enter the final phase of our search for the next President & CEO of this enterprise.”
For the past three months, a search committee consisting of Board leadership and members of Cara Collective’s Executive Team and staff have worked with executive search firm Koya Partners to identify the next President & CEO. The search has attracted a national range of talent across sectors and industries and the committee plans to present a final candidate to the Board for approval in June.
This transition comes at an exciting inflection point for Cara Collective as they are in the midst of celebrating 30 years as a premiere workforce development provider. Further, the organization is poised to close the fiscal year exceeding performance and revenue targets, including placing more than 900 jobs for their participants. Additionally, Cara Collective’s three business lines remain healthy. Social enterprises Cleanslate and Connects are hitting all-time highs in invoiced revenue, impact, and geographic reach, and Cara Plus is seeing an influx in registrations for their training Institutes, where employers and organizations from across the country lean on three decades of expertise and insight to help build a more inclusive economy.
“The Cara Board of Directors and I are extremely proud of how Cara Collective has thrived in what was such an uncertain year,” said Walden. “This organization has not only survived, but exceeded expectations while remaining a leader and innovator in their space. This is a true testament to the tireless work of Cara staff, leadership, and its entire community of supporters and partners. We have much to look forward to as we enter a new chapter of this organization.”
Click here to read our announcement of Maria Kim’s transition.
