The 2009 Meyer Foundation Exponent Award winners are featured in The Washington Post.

Kelly Sweeney McShane

Executive Director
Community of Hope

About Kelly Sweeney McShane

Executive Director, Community of Hope

Kelly Sweeney McShane has served as executive director of Community of Hope since January 2001. During that time, the organization has doubled in size and in the amount of families it serves.

McShane previously served as executive director of Hannah House, a transitional program for homeless women in the District of Columbia, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She currently serves on the board of directors of the D.C. Primary Care Association and as a member of the Mayor's Interagency Council on Homelessness. She was board chair of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement (formerly Washington Council of Agencies) from 2000 to 2003, and is a member of the 2006 class of Leadership Greater Washington.

McShane received a master's in business administration from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree from Harvard College. She has done consulting on issues such as financial management, fundraising, board development and strategic planning for nonprofits in the D.C. area and the Czech Republic. McShane is co-author of the book, Winning Ways: Great Nonprofit Management Ideas.

Key Accomplishments

Kelly Sweeney McShane
Executive Director, Community of Hope
Annual Budget: $5.8 million
Service Area: District of Columbia

In 2001, when Kelly Sweeney McShane became executive director of Community of Hope, the organization already had a 20-year track record of adapting its programs and services to changing community needs.
The organization serves more than 4,000 people each year. Its housing program serves more than 65 formerly homeless families, offering a variety of supportive services. The clinic performs thousands of medical and dental procedures annually for people who are uninsured or receive public benefits. Community of Hope plans to identify a second health center site in Ward 8.
Under Kelly's energetic leadership, Community of Hope made several key decisions that secured its future and eventually helped it thrive, including having Community of Hope become a Federally Qualified Health Center eligible for Medicaid reimbursement for medical services—a change which stabilized the clinic's finances and allowed Community of Hope to double the number of patients served and to add dental and mental health services and substance abuse counseling.
She doubled the size of the organization and the budget grew from $1.3 million to nearly $6 million and doubled the number of clients served.
Its finance and development departments are robust and well staffed, and its programs are rapidly expanding—thanks in part to several successful partnerships and strong support from the District government.
Kelly holds an MBA from Georgetown, and has a lifelong commitment to service and the nonprofit sector. Before joining Community of Hope, she served as executive director of Hannah House, a transitional housing program for homeless women in the District, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone.
She has also served in numerous external leadership roles, including as a board member and board chair of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, service on the Mayor's Interagency Council on Homelessness, and serving as a board member of the DC Primary Care Association.
Impact of economic downturn: Twice as many enrollments in Medicaid; 66 percent of families they are seeing have mental health issues compared to 20-30 percent in the past.