Dear Friends of CEP:

As CEP launches its fifth program year, change is in the air. We have begun three new country programs; we are recruiting and placing East European scholars as CEP Lecturers; our European office has moved to Budapest; and we have reorganized our administrative structure.

In this reorganization, change begins at the top. I have informed the CEP Board of my desire to turn over the reins of CEP by January 1, 1996. I joined CEP when it was just beginning its "growth spurt" in late 1992, going from a pilot project in the Czech and Slovak Republics to a full-fledged region-wide program.

The last three years have been the most challenging and rewarding of my life. However, now that CEP is well-established, I feel the time is right for a change. The search for my successor is proceeding aggressively, and the Board's Search Committee is now in the process of interviewing a number of candidates, from whom a group of three finalists will be selected in the coming weeks.

Prompted both by my decision to leave and by the growing challenges of managing this vibrant and ever-expanding organization, the Board of Directors decided that the time was right to reexamine the staffing and structure of CEP to assure that we continue to respond aggressively and efficiently to the challenges and opportunities we face.

With the help of an outside consultant, Jim Isenberg of Partners for Democratic Change, the Board and staff took a hard look at CEP "top to bottom" this summer. For the most part, we liked what we saw: a lot of hard working and devoted people pursuing a mission they all strongly believed in. Yet the Board did decide on a few changes in the structure and responsibilities of senior staff.

First of all, my successor will have the title of President. He/she will continue to have overall responsibility for the effectiveness of CEP's programs, and will spend considerable time in-region working closely with lecturers and staff from a base in the Budapest office. At the same time, the restructuring and streamlining currently underway will permit the President to focus more attention on fundraising, public relations, and building strategic partnerships for CEP.

To help the President with these latter tasks, CEP will hire a full-time fundraising and public affairs professional as Director of External Relations, based in Washington, DC. The search to fill this position is nearing completion.

In our European office, we have replaced the previous two-tiered structure of a European Director and two Deputy European Directors with a simpler structure of two Program Directors: a Director of Central and East European Programs (Phil Henderson, formerly the Deputy European Director responsible for Central and Eastern Europe), and a Director of Baltic and Eurasian Programs (a position about to be filled.)

Former Deputy European Director/NIS Daniel Calingaert has moved over to become Director of CEP's Regional Needs Assessment Project.

Last but certainly not least, Catherine Reed continues to serve as the organizational anchor of CEP, leading her able team of New Haven staff responsible for everything from budget/audit finance and administrative/human resource issues to the complex and year-long task of recruiting, selecting, placing, and supporting our ever-growing corps of Visiting Faculty Fellows. Catherine does so, however, with the new title of Director of Finance, Administration and Human Resources.

As you will see from the other articles in this newsletter, CEP continues to grow and thrive. Our fifth program year has gotten off to a strong and creative start, thanks to the hard work and commitment of our volunteer Visiting Lecturers and our staff. The changes I have described above are designed to simplify lines of authority, to clarify responsibilities, and to permit us to respond more creatively and aggressively to the opportunities awaiting us.

A final note: one never fully leaves CEP, and I for one would not want to. I have grown enormously devoted to this organization, its people, and its mission, and I plan to remain actively involved in and supportive of its work, in the first instance by continuing to serve as a member of the Board of Directors.

I look forward to the continued pleasure of working with the diverse, dedicated and creative people--lecturers, staff, alumni, and friends of the organization--who come together to advance our mission.

With best regards,

Kerry Stephen McNamara
Executive Director
Civic Education Project

How You Can Help

The Civic Education Project is a privately funded voluntary organization that relies on the generosity of its friends and supporters for all of its funding needs.

Those wishing to make a contribution to the Civic Education Project should contact the Washington Office at 202-337-4189. Checks should be made payable to: Civic Education Project and can be mailed to 1000 Potomac Street NW, Suite 401, Washington, DC 20007