Mari Lawrence is the new executive director of the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC). 

She notes current E.D. Victoria Espey really saw the not-for-profit grow with what's become a strong group with many staff members.

"I'm really looking forward to the new challenge," says Lawrence. "I applied. There is an interview process to go through and I've spent about 3 1/2 years with PCRC. So, I've been able to gain a lot of internal knowledge about our programs and how our organization works. I think that definitely helped me in the process."

She notes she started in January of 2019. 

"I'll begin to shadow Victoria immediately while she's still with us until mid-August, and then she'll be on holidays for a bit and I'll take the reins," continues Lawrence. "Victoria has created a really great environment for staff and everyone has a lot of creative freedom in their programs. We have lots of contracts with all three levels of government, so that's exciting. And I'm looking forward to learning more about the contracts and our partnerships with other organizations."

Lawrence adds PCRC has many strong local partnerships, and she's looking forward to meeting some of their funders in the future and getting more of a handle on everything.