Board Announces Interim CEO
The Board of Directors of the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA) announce the new interim CEO of ACCA, Eve Anthony, while the Board conducts a search to fill the position. The announcement follows the departure of Jennie Deese on December 2. Deese served as CEO from 2009 after serving over 25 years in aging services in Georgia.
“I have absolutely enjoyed working with and for the older adults in the Northeast Georgia area but it is time to pursue a different direction. I cannot begin to thank the community, staff and volunteers for their dedication to making ACCA a success,” said Deese. “ACCA was started because of community members’ dedication to providing a great place to retire, and I’m confident that this agency will continue to be on the forefront of aging services.”
Anthony has been ACCA’s Chief Operating Officer since 2010. “It is a sign of Jennie’s contributions to ACCA that she leaves a strong leadership team in place to continue a standard of excellence that our community has come to expect,” stated Shannon Wilder, Chair of the ACCA Board of Directors. “Eve has a passion for providing the best care for older adults and has represented ACCA on a state and national level in the last year. She will continue to be an outstanding leader for this agency during the transition.”
Anthony has been employed at the ACCA since 2000 in a number of roles where she has overseen agency programs such as Adult Day Health, Home Delivered Meals, Center for Active Living, and ACCA Transportation. Anthony’s experience ranges from professional and family caregiver education, Medicaid waiver management, and home and community based service coordination and delivery. Her current position has allowed her to develop agency policy and procedures while instating a continuous quality improvement program for each of the 14 programs within the ACCA. Most recently Anthony has been instrumental in implementing the Senior Hunger Coalition in the Northeast Georgia area.
“I am excited to be a part of such a wonderful organization and it is an honor to lead it during this transition,” said Anthony. “I appreciate all that Jennie has done for our agency. The older adults in our community as well as our strategic partners, donors, committed volunteers and staff have always been our priority, and I look forward to talking with volunteers and community members to find out how we can continue to be the best provider of aging services in our area.”
In 2015, ACCA served over 7,000 clients in the Northeast Georgia area and utilized community volunteers for over 20,000 hours. ACCA is the host for the area Meals on Wheels, Center for Active Living, Senior Leadership Academy and the Adult Day Health as well as being a voice and advocating for older adults on local, state and national levels. Through these programs they utilize over 5,000 volunteers each year and partner with local schools and university systems for research, student instruction and service learning opportunities. Shannon Wilder went on to say, “ACCA has and will always be a leader in aging services and we are excited to see what happens in this next chapter of ACCA history.”
