The NCR collected the following appraisals of Roger Playwin who is stepping down after ten years.
CEO praised for guidance in troubled times
Jim Dumont, a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s National Council, hired Roger Playwin in 1998 as the executive director for the society’s Detroit office before Playwin became CEO of the national society in 2003. Dumont describes Playwin as a pivotal leader at an important time in the society’s history.
The society’s president, Sheila Gilbert, sees Playwin’s tenure as providential.
“God raises up people with the special skills needed at critical times. Roger Playwin played a crucial role in helping the society transition to a stronger national office and an operational board of directors,” Gilbert said.
“Roger’s intimate understanding of both the spiritual and business elements of the society allows him to guide our course through the troubled waters of recession and into the future based on systemic change and a commitment to end poverty in this country,” she said.
Dumont told NCR that when the Detroit council was looking for a new executive director, Playwin impressed him. “He told me he applied [for the Detroit job] because he wanted to ‘give back.’ … It was the grace of God which brought Roger to us and guided my selection,” he said.
“I was extremely pleased at how Roger guided our diocesan council in Detroit and taught us how a corporate board should function. It was not long before Roger and I became good friends. … I will always consider Roger my very good friend and an amazing gentleman.”
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The society has approximately 700,000 men and women, known as Vincentians, located in 142 countries on five continents. In the United States, there are more than 172,000 members in 4,600 communities.
In 2010, the U.S. Vincentians provided more than $595 million in tangible and in-kind services, served more than 14 million people in need, performed more than 648,000 home visits, and delivered more than 7 million service hours to those in need or living in poverty.
Playwin, a Michigan native, is a husband and father of three adult children with four grandchildren. He has dedicated a large portion of his professional energies to leadership in mission-driven not-for-profit organizations. In the Detroit area, he has been president of the Monroe County Inter-Faith Social Action Association; president of the board of directors of Community Substance Abuse Outreach Center; and an executive for 15 years with the Catholic Youth Organization, among many other roles.
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