Courtesy of Family & Intercultural Resource Center
FRISCO — Summit County’s Family & Intercultural Resource Center announced Wednesday that it had hired a new executive director. Brianne Snow is the current director of programs for FIRC and will be taking the reins from outgoing executive director Tamara Drangstveit in July, when Drangstveit moves on to her new role as executive director of the Peak Health Alliance community health care collaborative.
“The FIRC Board initiated the executive director search in April under an aggressive 60-day timeline,” FIRC board president Nick Doran said in a news release. “With the help of Tamara Drangstveit, we cast a wide net in an effort to seek qualified candidates from both inside and outside of the organization. Not surprisingly, this effort resulted in many well-qualified applicants.”
A 23-year Summit County resident, Snow is a longtime employee of FIRC, having worked at the nonprofit for 14 years. She began her career there in 2005 as FIRC’s Families United Program manager. Three years later, Snow was promoted to grant and data manager, a role in which she served for 10 years. Last year, Snow was appointed as FIRC’s director of programs, which requires deployment and personnel oversight for the organization’s core programs.
“I am really excited and honored to be hired for the position,” Snow said. “I’ve been at FIRC for a long time, so I know how challenging the role is. I want to make sure we continue to meet the changing needs of the community.”
FIRC serves more than 4,300 people living and working in Summit County each year through parenting, family development, health insurance sign-up assistance and food assistance programs. FIRC also operates two thrift stores that support 35% of the funding for the organization. Snow will be responsible for overseeing FIRC’s 55 employees and its $5.7 million budget.
“She has been my No. 2 for most of the time I’ve been here,” Drangstveit said. “I have complete confidence in her passion for Summit County’s working families, her knowledge of their needs and her ability to implement what needs to be done.”
“Brianne has clearly demonstrated the drive and ability to grow within the organization, increasing her responsibility with each step,” Doran said in the release. “I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result of our search efforts. Brianne exudes an unyielding passion to promote the stability of Summit County’s working families. We are more than confident she will take the FIRC mission and its core values to even greater heights well into the future.”
Snow said she will be looking to continue and bolster FIRC’s current programs under her leadership. Specifically, Snow said she would be looking to expand FIRC’s programming for mental health, including bringing in a third mental health navigator to help working families connect with providers and counseling resources. That’s along with a support program that helps families get housing through Housing Works initiative subsidies, an emergency support program, a parenting education program and a food pantry, among other programs.
“I am passionate about all of the amazing support the FIRC provides for families living and working within our community and am truly honored to have the chance to lead the organization in the upcoming years,” Snow said in the release.