Judy Ekman to step down from Prevention Council of Saratoga County
Judy Ekman loves her job, but she has a handful of grandchildren scattered around the country and she wants to spend time with them. So, after 30 years with the Prevention Council of Saratoga County, Ekman is passing the torch and announced that she will retire on June 30.
In order to kind of meet my personal needs, I need to work a lot less or have a lot less work and responsibilities. I thought it was a very appropriate time for me personally, said Ekman, who has been with the Prevention Council since 1979 and served as executive director since 1993. `I think that running an agency the size of the Prevention Council takes a lot of energy, which is a little more energy than I have to expend at this point.`
Ekman has had numerous irons in the fire during her three-decade stint at the Prevention Council. She originally joined the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Project (ASAPP) as an educational coordinator in 1979. After becoming executive director, she merged ASAPP and the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Council of Saratoga County to become one entity`the Prevention Council of Saratoga County`during which time the agency, its budget and its mission have tripled in size.
Ekman also helped found the Saratoga Center for the Family, a not-for-profit abuse prevention and treatment service agency, has been a trainer for the Northeast Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies and the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and was a founding co-chair of the New York State Prevention Credentialing Board. She said she’s seen the field of substance abuse and prevention evolve significantly over the years and is proud of the strides she’s made within the Prevention Council and beyond.
`When I started, there was really no research regarding the effectiveness of programs; we were operating based on the knowledge of educators who work on building skills and attitudes in children. Now, there’s a significant body of evidence about what works and a big emphasis is on doing community coalitions, working together with all kinds of stakeholders to have everyone take their piece of the problem and piece of a solution and work together toward a common goal,` said Ekman. `I think the fact that we have been able to do that in a number of communities and school districts is probably the most gratifying piece of what I’ve done and will probably be the longest lasting.`
Another development that Ekman is largely responsible for will long outlast her tenure at the Prevention Council. Safe Spring is a DWI and underage drinking prevention program that was started in 1983 and has been a leader in the fight against DWI. It aims to arm young drivers and teenagers who are just starting their driving careers, with the attitude that they won’t drive drunk and won’t ride with someone who is under the influence. Ekman said that Safe Spring holds an annual student leadership conference and works with local schools to do education programs and hold alcohol free after prom parties, as well as news marketing to discourage parents from encouraging or allowing underage drinking at prom and graduation-type events.
The Prevention Council also addresses other forms of risky behavior like drugs, tobacco, violence and most recently internet safety. Ekman said that providing high quality services to the community is hard work, but necessary and rewarding.
`I work with an enormously talented staff and we try very hard to meet`as opposed to imposing solutions on people`we try very hard to meet people’s needs, which is very demanding for staff members,` said Ekman. `It would be much easier to be able to provide a canned solution to something, but to be able to come to people where they are and reach them where there is the greatest possibility of success, that is very challenging and demands a talented staff and we have it. I’m a piece of that but the Prevention Council is much larger than the work that I do.`
It is this very drive, talent and desire to make a difference that Ekman said makes her confident the transition will be smooth after her departure. To further secure a seamless shift, a special search committee has been formed to guarantee that the best possible person is found to step into Ekman’s shoes.
`We are looking for the best possible candidate, either from within the council or from outside the council, so we’re trying to be as open about the process as possible and that’s why we have established a search committee; to cast a wide net in order to find the best candidate to replace Judy,` said James Lee, chair of the search committee.
The committee has also engaged Joanne Dittes Yepsen, president of Coltivare, as a consultant to assist in the process. She has led transition planning, strategic planning and board development training for various non-profit agencies and has worked on and off with the Prevention Council for several years.
Ekman said that she will continue to do some training in substance abuse even after she retires, but that her main focus will be on seeing her family and doing some of the things she’s always wanted to do. “