Northville Educational Foundation (NEF) has announced that Christa Howley will become their next Executive Director. Howley had been working as the Foundation's Assistant to Jennifer Roosenberg, when Roosenberg announced that she was leaving to become the Executive Director of the Oakland County Bar Association.
"We were all surprised when Jennifer gave her resignation, but after the shock wore off, I knew I wanted the opportunity to lead the NEF," said Howley.
Howley, a 14 year resident of Northville and University of Michigan graduate, had a career in management consulting at Deloitte after earning her MBA. She took a break from her career and corporate life to raise her family. She quickly began channeling her energies into volunteering. She started the Motor Moms & Dads Program at Ward Preschool. With three kids working their way through Northville Schools, she assisted in the classroom, chaperoned field trips, monitored lunchrooms and helped with reading programs. Beyond the schools, she volunteered with and led a local Girl Scout Troop and helped run programs at her church. She even volunteered at a few NEF events.
She said she always knew that when she returned to the workplace, it would be in the non-profit sector.
"During my MBA program, I had an internship at Focus: HOPE in downtown Detroit. It was an amazing experience. After that, I knew that eventually I would end up at a non-profit. When the time was right, I started looking."
When the position of Assistant at NEF became available, she applied immediately.
"I love our community and our schools so when the opportunity arose to work here, I jumped on it. It is a non-profit that benefits every child in the Northville Schools, including my own. It was a win-win situation. Then when Jennifer left, I approached the President, Mark Knoth about the opportunity to become Executive Director."
Howley said that one of her goals is to get more people involved in NEF.
"Strong schools build strong communities. We have a top-rated school district, which prepares our students to become leaders in the workplace and in our communities."
"Right now state funding for schools is not keeping up with inflation. NEF is still needed to help the district to keep pushing the needle forward," Howley said, "I would love to help make Northville schools the best in the state. If you would like that too, call me. Together, as a community, we can continue building strong schools."