Vera House announces appointment of new Chief Executive Officer
Nationwide Search Nets Seasoned Nonprofit Leader from New York’s Capital Region
New CEO Joins Restructured Executive Leadership Team
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK (July 6, 2023) — Vera House is pleased to announce the appointment of Daquetta P. Jones to Chief Executive Officer following a nationwide search.
Jones met with the dedicated Vera House staff and leadership Monday morning in Syracuse. She will be relocating to Central New York and will start fulltime in September managing overall strategic and operational responsibilities for Vera House staff, programs, and finances as well as executing its longstanding mission of preventing, responding, and partnering to end domestic and sexual violence and other forms of abuse.
Ebony Pengel, Vera House Executive Board President said, “Daquetta’s remarkable nonprofit leadership experience and a career dedicated to delivering compassionate care and counseling make her a perfect fit to lead Vera House into the future. Our new CEO, our restructured executive leadership team, and our deeply committed staff are here to serve this community that needs us.”
Jones, who hails from Troy, NY, has extensive experience in nonprofit and human services leadership. Jones is a compassionate, inclusive, and equitable leader with a proven track record of impact, quality service and assurance, employee relations and community engagement. Most recently she served as Director of Equity and Inclusion Initiatives at the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region. In a career spanning more than 20 years, Jones has also previously served as Co-Director Consultant for the University at Albany’s Institute of Nonprofit Leadership and Community Development, Deputy Commissioner of Administration for New York State Department of Civil Service, Executive Director of YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, Domestic Violence Counselor for Unity House of Troy, HIV Services Operations Manager at Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Services, Assistant Director of Community Based Services at the Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth, and Program Director for Equinox, Inc.’s House for Youth Shelter. Throughout her distinguished career, Jones has also served as a consultant providing advisory services to nonprofit executive leaders and boards.
Joining Jones on the Executive Leadership Team is newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Tricia Matthews. Matthews had been serving as Vera House Director of Operations, leading the day-to-day operations in an interim capacity, since May. Matthews joined Vera House in January 2023. Additionally, Dana Zanders has been appointed Chief Financial Officer after serving as Director of Finance at Vera House since January. Zanders has more than a decade of corporate accounting and finance experience.
About Vera House, Inc.
Vera House is a non-profit organization in Syracuse, New York, dedicated to responding to and preventing sexual and domestic violence and other forms of abuse. The organization shelters survivors of domestic violence, offers prevention education programs, operates a 24-hour crisis line, organizes nurse treatment for victims of sexual assault, and performs outreach and advocacy. For more information, visit VeraHouse.org or follow Vera House on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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