“What we’re doing at the Magdalen House is not just serving women, but we’re talking about alcoholism. We’re bringing it out of the darkness because it thrives there,” said Executive Director Lisa Kroencke. “One thing that D CEO has done by recognizing the Magdalen House is it has said that alcoholic women are important, that we are productive members of our community, that we have the right to get sober and recover. It really is a beautiful thing what we’re doing here.”
In 2007, Lisa was newly sober and looking for ways to grow in her recovery and help other alcoholic women. She learned through a friend that she could attend classes and meetings at The Magdalen House. For several years, she served as an active volunteer, which eventually led her to an invitation to serve as board chair in 2010, where she served for five years.
In 2016, the Board of Directors asked Lisa Kroencke to leave her position as the Board Chair and begin working as Executive Director. Since 2017, The Magdalen House has grown tremendously. Most notably, the agency has implemented two new programs, Next Step and Resources and Education, which, when combined with the First Step and Community programs, have enabled the agency to serve thousands of alcoholic women and their families in the North Texas community and beyond. She grew the nonprofit’s team of three to 24 staff members, and leads hundreds of trained, experienced volunteers. Under her leadership, agency’s revenue has increased by 204% to more than $2M in 2021.
Lisa is among 500 nonprofit leaders who were nominated for the D CEO Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship awards. After several judging sessions, a total of 126 finalists were named and she was selected as the recipient of the Leadership Excellence Award for midsize organizations.
Bolstered by deep corporate support, Dallas-Fort Worth has one of the most powerful nonprofit communities in the country. The two forces combine to strengthen the local economy and forge a brighter future for all. That point has been made even clearer in recent times.
All finalists will be featured in D CEO’s August issue available July 28.
