Jackie Norris, the former chief of staff for first lady Michelle Obama, will become president and CEO-elect of Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa on Oct. 3.
Jackie Norris, the former chief of staff for first lady Michelle Obama, will become president and CEO-elect of Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa on Oct. 3.
She takes over for a retiring Marlyn McKeen, who was CEO for more than 30 years and guided Goodwill through unprecedented success, from a small organization with one location in 1986 to the multifaceted service company it is today with an annual revenue of more than $20 million, 19 retail locations and 400 employees serving a 22-county area.
“Goodwill Industries wouldn’t be the strong organization it is today without (McKeen’s) leadership and service. … (His) impact has touched every facet of this organization,” said Danielle Bell, Goodwill’s board chairwoman.
Bell said the board conducted an intensive search after McKeen announced he would retire.
Norris said in a press release that “Iowa is truly home for us. This opportunity came along at the perfect time in our search to return to Iowa and very much fits the type of service that I am passionate about.”
She and husband John Norris and their three sons most recently lived in Italy for two years following their time in Washington, D.C.
Norris, a former Iowa schoolteacher who had been involved in several Democratic campaigns here, was chief of staff to Michelle Obama in the White House and Iowa state director for the Obama for America campaign.
She also worked as executive director for the Points of Light Corporate Institute, a resource for community-minded companies looking to build and expand effective employee volunteer programs. She was a senior adviser to the CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that helps operate volunteer programs such as Americorps, Senior Corps and Foster Grandparents.
Her biography notes that “combining her experience in nonprofit and academia as well as a history with national and statewide political arenas, Jackie has worked with teams to create, develop, and manage numerous strategic campaigns and initiatives from inception to implementation, always with a specialization in service and volunteerism.”
