MILLERTON — The North East Community Center has named Lakeville resident Athena Fliakos as its new executive director. She will begin Nov. 2, filling a position that has been vacant since March.
Fliakos said she is joining the organization during a difficult economic period nationally that requires adaptation from everyone — especially nonprofits.
Over the past year, NECC has had to contend with the closure of its daycare center and greater stress on its food pantry following cuts to federal nutrition assistance programs. That’s all amid a backdrop of rising costs that are squeezing consumers and businesses nationwide.
“The state of the nonprofit in New York is a precarious one,” Fliakos said, referring to the challenge of running a nonprofit organization in one of the most expensive states in the U.S.
Fliakos’s hiring ends a six month vacancy that began with the departure of former Executive Director Christine Sergent in March. Board Chair Irene Banning and Vice Chair Julie Fajgenbaum served as co-Executive Directors in the interim.
Sergent’s departure came just a few months after NECC shuttered its daycare program, the Early Learning Center in December, citing financial difficulties. Organizational leadership said at the time of the daycare’s closure that rising costs made the program unaffordable and put other programs at risk.
Fliakos called attention to NECC’s established programs, notably the food pantry, for their stability and reach through an economically fraught period. Last fall, the Trump administration followed through on cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, that shifted the burden of funding onto states and localities.
In the wake of those cuts, Dutchess County and New York State released millions in aid to local food pantries who were already experiencing strain from continuously increasing numbers of patrons.
NECC’s food pantry serves an average of 200 to 250 households per week. Patrons of the pantry may utilize its services up to two times per month.
Fliakos said the food pantry and NECC’s other food programs stood out as a model for one of her goals — collaboration and coalition building.
“A lot of what’s been talked about in the last five to 10 years — which I think takes a tremendous amount of commitment by a number of people — is really breaking siloed areas of service,” Fliakos said.
As part of its food assistance programming, NECC leads the Tri Corner Nutrition Security Coalition. The coalition is a group of farmers, food pantries and community health organizations that collaborate to promote access to nutritious food in New York and Connecticut.
Fliakos said she aims to build on this model, seeking collaborations with other area nonprofits and community groups to build and promote programming that benefits the community.
Another goal of hers is to build the organization’s visibility while maintaining its identity, saying the Executive Director role requires a balance of leadership, stewardship and imagination. Accomplishing that will draw on her experience in managerial roles including as CEO of YWCA Ulster County in Kingston, New York.
Fliakos, a Denver, Colorado, native, began her professional career as a teacher at Hotchkiss School near Lakeville, Connecticut, in 2001. The school was her alma mater — she graduated in 1995 — and tied her to the region for most of her adult life so far.
“I think about my relationship with the Northwest Corner as having sort of roots and wings,” Fliakos said. “I have moved around a little bit in the last 30 years, but I have never gone too far.”
NECC Board Chair Irene Banning announced Fliakos’s hiring with an email to community members on Thursday, Oct. 22. The letter described Fliakos as a leader and “agent of educational change.”
Banning called attention to Fliakos’s managerial experience, including founding the GoodBrain Project Inc. in 2013. Fliakos started the organization in 2013 to guide schools and nonprofits in reducing employee burnout and improving culture. One thing she’s excited about as she begins her role at NECC is supporting the staff.
“There have to be resources provided to the people who are on the front lines,” Fliakos said. “Not-for-profit people or teachers or nurses — we live off the passion, but the passion can’t feed us.”
