Wings of Hope welcomes Kelly Vaughn as our new chief financial officer. She replaces John Schmidt, who retired from the position in August after more than a decade of service. Kelly, who originally hails from Pensacola, Fla., has nearly 20 years’ experience doing similar work. Prior to joining Wings of Hope, she was director of finance for the city of St. Charles. Before that, she held the same role at the city of Chesterfield where she first became familiar with Wings of Hope.
“Wings of Hope hits a soft spot with me, as a mom, because you help so many children,” Kelly says. “I am fortunate that I have found myself in a position where I can devote more time to my kids and also, through my new role at Wings, I can also give back.”
John Schmidt established a very strong base for Kelly, spearheading the extensive process that qualifies us as a Four Star Charity on Charity Navigator and a GuideStar Gold Exchange Participant. These two designations recognize our fiscal efficiency and transparency and, importantly, reinforce the trust that our supporters have in our responsible stewardship of their donations. John also was voted CFO of the Year in the category of small nonprofits by the St. Louis Business Journal in 2011. Although he has stepped down as CFO, John remains on as a volunteer – helping Kelly transition into her new job and continuing his service to Wings of Hope.
“I just hope to continue doing the job that John Schmidt has done so well for so many years,” says Kelly.