Goodwill Industries International (GII) announced in April that President and CEO Jim Gibbons was resigning from his position to be effective following transition to new leadership. The GII board launched an executive search and is now working closely with an executive search firm to evaluate both internal and external candidates for the position. This very important process of identifying a new president and CEO is a high priority but naturally takes a certain period of time to accomplish.
The board and Jim have agreed to accelerate his transition in order to allow him to fulfill his goals of moving into new ventures. The board is therefore appointing Lorna G. Utley, retired president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, as interim president and CEO to support local Goodwill® members as well as the GII Member Services Team until a permanent CEO is appointed. Lorna’s role as interim is effective August 6, 2018.
Lorna served as Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit CEO for ten years. During her time there, Lorna restarted the organization’s donated goods retail operations into a revenue model to support mission growth. Under her leadership, the organization brought in large contracts, which included significant automotive manufacturing growth, allowing for employment and training for more people. She is also responsible for the creation of Goodwill’s Green Works, an innovative and massive industrial recycling operation. Prior to her Goodwill position, Lorna was a senior human resources executive at the General Motors Corporation and President of the GM Foundation and for many years was a board member for Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit.
GII thanks Jim for his contributions over the past ten years.
