Foundation for Future's leader to quit

1/19/2001

The Foundation for the Future is not in Tracy Sallah's future.

The head of the group organized to stop the exodus of talented young people from the community said she is stepping down from her post at the end of the month.

Ms. Sallah's brain, however, is not being drained from Toledo. “I have accepted a new position with Northwest Title as a commercial sales rep. I have to step aside from the mayor's office,” Ms. Sallah said.

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner said Ms. Sallah's new job prevents her from continuing to lead the foundation, and he said they have been working together for several weeks to try to find her replacement.

“I'm going full time in the private sector,” Ms. Sallah said, adding that she is stepping away from other public responsibilities.

Ms. Sallah also resigned as coordinator of CitiFest's Distinguished Clown Corps, and as secretary-treasurer for the Toledo Association of Independent Insurance Agents.

After juggling her new job and three other positions throughout the fall, Ms. Sallah, 39, said her New Year's resolution was to consolidate her life to allow her more time for her children, who are 12 and 14 years old.

“I truly have enjoyed the work I have done for the mayor,” she said. “I didn't want to lose the office. I tried to do everything I could, but it was more than I was able to commit to.”

Mayor Finkbeiner formed Foundation for the Future in July, 1999, after articles in The Blade, which showed how the city was an exporter of its brightest young people. The organization now has nearly 200 volunteers.

The mayor hired Ms. Sallah in November, 1999, as a part-time coordinator. She was paid $250 weekly to work 12 hours per week.

Ms. Sallah said her successor needs to be able to take the organization to its next level, including securing its official status as a nonprofit agency. “We need someone with leadership skills to direct the program so it's self-sufficient and can run on its own as a nonprofit,” she said.

She and the mayor have interviewed several candidates for her job, and she encouraged anyone interested in applying to contact her or the mayor's office.