FISA Director Leaves Legacy of Collaboration

posted May 28, 2010
By Tina Calabro, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
May 26, 2010

To people in the local disability community, Dee Delaney is a household name.

When news came this spring of her intention to retire as executive director of FISA Foundation in August, one could almost hear a collective gasp. With 14 years at the helm of the small but influential foundation, Ms. Delaney has had a pronounced and lasting influence on quality of life in our region.

On behalf of FISA, Ms. Delaney has changed the local landscape not only by funding projects with far-reaching results, but by bringing people together to craft solutions to longstanding problems and by becoming personally involved in many of the projects the foundation funds.


Full article available at: www.postgazette.com/pg/10146/1060681-114.stm

FISA Foundation Announces New Executive Director

posted May 28, 2010
The Board of Directors of FISA Foundation is pleased to announce the promotion of Program Officer Kristy Trautmann to Executive Director effective August 15, 2010. She will succeed Dee Delaney, who is retiring after serving in this position since the creation of the Foundation in 1996. Ms. Trautmann has a demonstrated track record as a successful community leader with 20 years’ experience improving the lives of the three populations upon which FISA Foundation focuses - women, girls and people with disabilities.

Board President Missy Unkovic remarked, “As a relatively small and very focused foundation, FISA invests in the community through grants and also by acting as a change agent and community convener to address challenging and often overlooked issues. We believe in working as a trusted partner with our grantees, which makes the choice of our executive director particularly important. Kristy Trautmann brings the type of visionary leadership needed to support the Foundation’s current initiatives as well as to guide FISA in its next phase of growth.”

Since joining the Foundation in 2004, Ms. Trautmann has managed the Foundation’s investments benefitting women and girls, focusing on ending cycles of domestic and sexual violence, addressing the needs of extremely vulnerable groups of women, and empowering girls to reach their full potential. She has also supported FISA’s commitment to inclusion of people with disabilities through a diverse portfolio of projects that promote civic engagement, self-advocacy, accessible housing, and community based employment. Ms. Trautmann has gained a reputation for brokering creative partnerships and developing innovative models for addressing these complex issues.

In commenting about her vision for the Foundation, Ms. Trautmann said, “At its core, FISA Foundation’s mission is to promote equity and inclusion – making sure that women, girls and people with disabilities have the opportunity to contribute actively in all aspects of community life. These are challenging times for our region, the Commonwealth, the nation and the world. We need all of our citizens at the table, and we cannot afford to leave out the voices of the sixty percent of our population represented by women, girls and people with disabilities. I’m excited to have this opportunity to dig in and make a difference.”