A Fresh Start to the Year and Programming at Bark

Greetings! We hope your 2023 is off to a great start.  I am Kiko Garcia, and I’m serving in my capacity as Interim Executive Director for Bark. My recent projects at Bark have had me working on culture-building and helping to discern what Bark’s organizational structure can be moving forward. Regarding Bark’s organizational leadership structure, the journey is ever-evolving, but Bark is resolute in continuing on the path of a shared leadership model. Indeed, Bark sees a shared leadership approach as invaluable because of its many benefits, including fostering meaningful staff engagement, organizational adaptability, and solidifying equitable outcomes for organizations as well as the communities they serve.

As such, Bark has decided to adopt a shared leadership model in which it will hire two Co-Executive Directors in the coming months. We anticipate hiring to begin at the end of February, with job descriptions and announcements being disseminated through all of our community engagement channels. Please be on the lookout for these subsequent pieces of information.

Additionally, in line with our commitment to our community in 2023, the intent of Bark in the new year is to continue with our regular programming offerings to stay engaged with our community. We’re deeply grateful for your continued support and collective wisdom towards Bark’s mission to defend and restore the lands colonially referred to as “Mt. Hood National Forest.”

Warmly,

Kiko Garcia, Interim Executive Director for Bark

Image shows a headshot of Kiko, who is wearing a plaid flannel button down and smiling at the camera. He has short dark brown hair and brown eyes, and he is smiling calmly at the camera in front of a backdrop of window blinds.