Just after hosting World Fitness Day May 1, Jane Fonda announced she was leaving Atlanta after 19 years for Los Angeles to pursue movies full-time.
The two nonprofits bearing her name that she leaves behind, the Jane Fonda Center at Emory University and the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAPP), say her exit isn’t going to hamper their work to improve the scientific and every-day advancement of women’s health issues in Georgia.
G-CAPP President and CEO Michele Ozumba allows that the past year and a half have been “brutal” for nonprofits. But she and Jane Fonda Center Director Melissa Kottke concur that Atlanta can expect business as usual, regardless of where Fonda calls home.
Ozumba discussed the future of G-CAPP and life without Jane:
Q: What does Jane do in G-CAPP’s daily operations?
A: She is the chair of the board of directors, which is made up of 20 community leaders in Atlanta and in Georgia. She's committed to staying fully engaged with the organization as board chair. So we feel like she's leaving Atlanta, but she's definitely not leaving G-CAPP. She certainly will continue to be here for our quarterly board meetings as well as any fund-raising events that we have.
Q: How do you think she’ll stay up on the issue of teen pregnancy in Georgia while she’s living and working in California?
A: Thank goodness for technology. We e-mail almost daily. As a CEO, it's my responsibility to have regular updates to Jane and the board in addition to the meetings we have. It's an ongoing organizational flow of managing and communicating and we also have two co-chairs here in Atlanta who will assist with the board leadership, given that she is physically away. I don't see [her leaving] as a big issue, actually.
Q: Fonda’s film premieres have been big fund-raising opportunities for G-CAPP. Now that she’s left to pursue movies as her full focus, does G-CAPP anticipate receiving even more support?
A: Every year, except for last year, we've had an annual event that's been a movie premiere and that has been our big annual fundraiser that gives us unrestricted money to cover operations. Twenty to 25 percent of our overall funds have come from that annual premiere, so it's a very important part of our financial health. We don't expect an increase. I think we aspire to still have one a year. And we are very much committed to diversifying our funding because one of our goals is to build a sustainable organization that can endure beyond any one individual.
Q: What is G-CAPP going to miss most about her?
A: Our ability to host wonderful events at her loft [laughs]! She was very generous with opening her home to G-CAPP when we needed it for meetings or thank-you parties. When you know that somebody's just around the corner, psychologically and emotionally it did matter that she was very accessible and that we could do things quickly.
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