San Diego Rescue Mission gets new president

By Maureen Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE

September 15, 2006

The city's oldest homeless center is under new leadership and has plans to implement a more stringent business model in the operation of the San Diego Rescue Mission.

Harvard-educated businessman Herb Johnson has replaced former president Jim Jackson, who led the Rescue Mission through its difficult move from East Village to Bankers Hill two years ago.

Johnson, who had been chairman of the Rescue Mission's board of directors, was publicly named president and CEO on Wednesday. He said he has been running the organization as interim chief for the past month amid "the circumstances" that led to his predecessor "leaving here pretty quickly."

Rescue Mission officials said a mutual decision made by Jackson and the board led to the changes. Jackson was unavailable for comment.

"We owe Jim a big set of thanks," said Johnson, 62. "But the board recognized that the skill sets we needed to move forward were not the skill sets we had."

The San Diego Rescue Mission opened in 1955 as a soup kitchen in a rundown section of pre-Gaslamp Quarter downtown.

Today it operates out of a former hospital and offers medical care, job training and spiritual counseling as well as a child-care center. It also provides living space for men, women and children in a 12-month recovery program as well as emergency shelter for women and children. The nonprofit group owns a warehouse, three thrift stores and parking structures.

"The Mission is a complex organization offering a wide range of rehabilitation services to the community," Kim Elliott, chairwoman of the Rescue Mission board of directors, said in a statement. "That means today's Mission must be run more like a business, with the highest levels of efficiency and management."

Johnson said he hopes to help the Rescue Mission serve more people with expanded services. He also plans to forge new partnerships with local businesses. Charities are under increased scrutiny from communities and face growing competition for donations and funds.

"We want to touch more people in San Diego, not just those in the downtown area," said Johnson, who moved to San Diego from Boston in 1999 and has a résumé that includes corporate experience and philanthropic work.

He is the president and founder of San Diego-based Summit Concept, an executive coaching and management consulting firm. He held senior executive positions for several large supply chain purchasing organizations including Premier Inc. and CVS Pharmacy. His volunteer service includes work with the Boy Scouts, Greater Boston Food Bank and a Boston homeless shelter.

"I don't know how I got this job, but I really believe it is God's work," Johnson said. "I had two far more lucrative job offers on the table. I'm the happiest guy in the world."

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