Leadership Transition at Delco United

Delco United Co-Founders, Robin Lasersohn & Terry Rumsey

Delco United Members and Supporters,

Five years ago, we were a part of a small group of intrepid individuals who came together in June of 2013 and founded Delaware County United for Sensible Gun Policy. Since we were the ones who had organized the meeting, our colleagues asked us to be the Co-Chairs and we accepted.

Five years later, the seedling has grown into a tall and sturdy tree, with deep roots and many branches in our community.

Delco United, as we nicknamed our group early on, now has a solid Board of Directors, a healthy bank account for an all-volunteer group, over 2,000 members across Delaware County, and a history of successful electoral, legislative, and public policy action.

So, it’s one of the hardest things we’ve ever done to announce to you that we are stepping down as the Co-Chairs of Delco United.

The easiest thing to explain about our decision is that Terry has a new job as executive director of Witness to Innocence and Robin is assuming the lead role in running Green Seeds, our grant writing business. But this is not just about our new jobs and business responsibilities. It’s about our belief that social justice organizations need a dose of alternate perspectives, fresh ideas, and new leadership at some point to grow beyond their founders and evolve into authentic community-based organizations. Five years is that milestone for Delco United.

That’s why we’re so excited to announce that Jessica Frankl and John Linderare the new Co-Chairs of Delco United.

  
Jessica is a young, dynamic organizer with boundless energy, and John, the former Mayor of Chester, brings experience and earned respect to their shared leadership. We know they will be a great team. You will be hearing from them directly in the very near future. We ask that you immediately get behind them for the next round in a hard, tough fight to take our state and federal governments back from the grip of the NRA.

OK. It’s time for us the exit this stage. We’ll let others judge the strengths and weaknesses of the job we performed these past five years. We, however, want you to know that we are awed by the commitment, creativity, determination, passion, and resilience that so many of you exhibited as we built Delco United together.

Delco United is your organization. Do it!

Terry and Robin