AKRON, Pa. – The recent resignation of MCC executive director, Robb Davis, has caused the MCC executive committee, who hired Davis, to add additional time to their already planned January 2007 meeting here for gathering an “organizational consensus†about keeping the 86-year-old international relief, development and peace agency moving forward.
“While Robb’s resignation has not stopped any of the day-to-day work of MCC in responding to those in need around the world, it does call us to a serious discussion about internal organizational structure and culture,†said Ron Dueck, chair of the MCC executive committee.
Following a recent meeting, the MCC executive committee informed staff and board members that a review of Davis’ resignation led to identifying internal governance and structural issues which led to the resignation and made it difficult for Davis to work within the MCC culture.
“Our goal is to move toward a comprehensive organizational consensus on the direction that we wish MCC to take in the future,†Dueck said.
Some of the issues identified by the executive committee included the lack of clarity around the function of governing bodies, the role of the MCC executive director in the decision-making process, benchmarks of organizational success and unclear lines of accountability within and between MCC entities.
In addition to MCC, which is based in Akron, there are 11 other MCC offices, all with separate executive directors and boards. These offices include the MCC Canada and MCC U.S. national offices as well as five provincial offices in Canada and four regional offices in the U.S. All but a few of these offices are separately incorporated.
The MCC executive committee will continue to meet over the next several weeks to complete work on hiring an interim executive director. Lowell Detweiler is currently serving as short-term acting executive director.