Veteran nonprofit executive Stephanie McCormick has been named president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County and the Inland Empire Chapter, which serves the largest geographic region in California.
Founded in 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s mission is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The Orange County and Inland Empire Chapter, which includes 7.1 million people in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, will grant more than 300 wishes to area children this year.
“Our vision is to grant the wish request of every eligible child in our territory. For us to achieve that goal requires strong, forward-looking leadership. Stephanie has a demonstrated track record of high performance in leading nonprofit organizations,” said Jon Storbeck, Make-A-Wish Orange County/Inland Empire chairman of the board. “We have an aggressive growth plan and Stephanie will help the Chapter attain its goals.”
McCormick, 55, has more than 33 years experience in leading nonprofit organizations in Orange County, Ohio and Indiana including 14 years with the United Way. She will be leaving her post as the CEO of Mariposa Women and Family Center, located in Orange, where she served for the past two years.
“The Foundation’s mission reflects the life-changing impact that the Make-A-Wish experience has on children, their families, our volunteers and donors. I’m honored to have been selected as CEO and to lead this terrific team,” McCormick said. “While these are challenging economic times for nonprofits, we believe that connecting people to the power of a wish for our children will be life changing and is the key to our growth.”
Previously, McCormick was the president and CEO of the United Way of Allen County in Fort Wayne, Ind., for four years. She was also senior vice president of community development for the Orange County United Way for 10 years.
She succeeds Mike Lednovich, an Orange County-based business performance consultant, who has been the Chapter’s interim president/CEO since January.
McCormick, who holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University, will begin her duties on Sept. 6.
Make-A-Wish is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and has 64 chapters throughout the United States. The Orange County and Inland Empire Chapter is located at 14232 Red Hill Avenue in Tustin.
For more information contact Jon Storbeck, Chairman of the Board, 714-573-9474.
About the Make-A-Wish Foundation:
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Founded in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is one of the world’s leading children’s charities, with 64 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 200,000 wishes in the United States since its inception. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit wish.org and discover how you can share the power of a wish®.
