The CEO of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, Adam Katchmarchi, Ph.D., has resigned from the organization effective Sept. 15.
The departure was precipitated by an unexpected but significant reduction in funding. As the board developed its plan for moving forward, Katchmarchi said, it became apparent he would no longer make a proper fit.
“The direction the board wanted to go just wasn’t a direction that I was really passionate about,” he said. “To be the CEO of any organization, you have to be fully aligned with the direction the board has set out.”
He said he leaves on good terms: “It was just a mutual parting of ways, totally professional and respectful on all sides.”
The funding loss also impacted the job of one full-time NDPA staffer.
While the organization figures out its next steps, NDPA President Michelle Long said the group will remain viable. “This is a bump in the road that happens with many nonprofits,” she said. “We are in the process of securing additional funding and, from there, we will move on.”
Board members and other volunteers are active in managing the group, she said. Next year’s conference is still planned, and Long expects NDPA to keep its social media presence. It also will seek a part-time interim executive director. “We are looking at securing additional funding at this time,” Long said.
Decade of tenure
Katchmarchi’s history with NDPA goes back about 13 years.
After receiving a scholarship from the group in 2011, he joined its Advisory Council in 2012, then served on its board of directors from 2013 to 2017. He was president from 2015 to 2017, at which time he became executive director. He was promoted to CEO last year.
Katchmarchi served as the very visible face of the organization, in the process raising NDPA’s profile. The group made significant strides in its social media and marketing presense, created tools to help others promote drowning prevention, and took a prominent seat at the table in efforts such as the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan, the increased campaign for research, and efforts to collaborate with peripheral forces such as the pool and spa industry to deliver the message of drowning prevention.
“All of that has been a great change,” Long said. “It’s put NDPA on the forefront as far as drowning prevention and water safety.”
Since 2017, Katchmarchi also has worked as a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in its public health program, specializing in topics such as communications and marketing in public health, research methods, and aquatic facility management. He recently was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor. He continues that work, but also will seek another position working in aquatics and water-safety advocacy. In the meantime, he will remain in certain volunteer positions such as a member of the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan’s Steering Committee and the PHTA-16 standard writing committee.
