Dear friends and colleagues,

After 15 wonderful years with The Natural Step Canada, the last seven as Executive Director, I have decided to step aside at the end of 2011. This is a well-planned and strategic decision and the staff and Board of Directors have established a process to effectively manage the leadership succession this year. I know I am leaving the organization in great hands.

While I look forward to spending more time with my family and being more present at home with my boys, I won’t be leaving The Natural Step family. I look forward to continuing to actively champion and support the work of The Natural Step in Canada and internationally in the future.

Leaving is a bittersweet time for me. I love this organization and all the people I work with. I fully believe in its potential to make the world a better place. I am very proud of the achievements our team has made over the past decade. We’ve established a national charitable organization that is helping Canadians accelerate the transition to a sustainable society in a meaningful way. Since 2002, we have grown from zero to 15 full-time staff and now have a strong advisory and program team supported by a highly engaged Board of Directors.

I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to lead, work with, learn from, and nurture such a talented, professional, and passionate team. They are an outstanding group of change agents who are extremely good at what they do. They inspire me every day.

This is an exciting phase in our evolution as an NGO. The Natural Step Canada is very well positioned for a leadership change at this time as the organization enters the next phase of its strategic planning and evolution as a dynamic NGO. This leadership transition will allow The Natural Step Canada to reach its full potential as it moves forward.

I look forward to supporting the next generation of leadership as they build on what we’ve started and take it to a new level of impact. I’ll be working fully in my role as Executive Director until the end of 2011 and will provide whatever support and mentoring is needed to enable the new Executive Director to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Thank you to everyone I’ve worked with who has made this such a rewarding opportunity. I have loved every minute of it and I’m so grateful for the support of our Board, staff, partners, funders, and international colleagues. I look forward to continued collaborations on the transition to a sustainable society.

Kelly Hawke Baxter