Raleigh, NC, September 4, 2024 - Designed For Joy’s Board of Directors announced today that Cary Heise, the organization’s co-founder and executive director, will be stepping down from her role at the end of October as she and her family are pursuing a longtime dream of relocating to South Carolina. The Board and staff proudly support her decision and appreciate that she has provided such a solid foundation for her successor who will be named in the coming months.
“Over the past seven years, I have been humbled and grateful to work alongside such a dedicated team, serving both God and the women of Raleigh,” says Heise. “While I will miss the mission and rewards of Designed For Joy’s success, my upcoming move to South Carolina will provide me with a new opportunity to focus on my family.”
Since co-founding Designed For Joy with Kristen Sydow in 2017, more than 160 referred women have been served and more than $600K in living wages have been paid. It’s an exciting time for Designed For Joy and under the continued leadership of Sydow and a new executive director, Designed For Joy will continue to provide immediate, living wage work for the most vulnerable women in our community.
Other milestones reached during Heise’s tenure as executive director include opening five storefronts, achieving $1 million in annual revenue during Designed For Joy’s sixth year, and establishing partnerships with many other local nonprofits to serve Raleigh’s most vulnerable women. Most recently Heise and Sydow published their first book, the Designed For Joy Social Impact Brand Playbook, a resource for new and growing nonprofit and social justice brand organizations, sharing the history of Designed For Joy plus practical, actionable tips and resources.
Over the coming weeks the board will be moving forward with identifying Designed For Joy’s next executive director, but in the interim Designed For Joy has a strong board, dedicated staff, and solid group of volunteers that will continue to serve the community well. The Board will ensure that the next leader will continue to implement the vision and values set forth by its co-founders.
About Designed For Joy
The women who create our brand with us are those living at high risk for sex and labor trafficking and/or food and housing insecurities. We partner with long-running ministries or local non-governmental organizations serving women who may be coming out of trafficking, emergency situations, generational poverty, homelessness, rehab, or prison.
Designed For Joy believes in a community approach. We provide the vocational resource component in this holistic care approach while our professional partners do what they do best. For more information, visit designedforjoy.com.