Dianne Stewart, since 1991 the executive director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, has decided to step down. “I’ve been here 11 years,” Stewart told us. “When I came in 1991, there was me, an intern, and a receptionist. Now we have a great staff of 15, and a very supportive set of funders with a long-term commitment to the organization. I feel I can let my baby go.”
The Center is a nonprofit research center focused on state policies affecting poor and moderate-income Texans, and has been very effective in working with the Legislature on issues like health care, education, and broad state budget policy. Founded in 1985 by a group of Benedictine Sisters from Boerne, Texas, the CPPP became an independent nonprofit organization in 1999. Stewart presided over the transition, and says, “We’ve established a solid network of donors, and we’re better ready than ever to pursue the mission of the organization.”
Stewart says she hasn’t yet decided what to do next, although she’s “having fun thinking about it.” She will allow six months or more for a transition. “My goal is to give the board time to decide what the organization needs in a new director, and to do a search. I’m fiercely loyal to the staff and the organization, but I know it can live and prosper on its own.”
This article appears in April 5 • 2002.
