Kari Walker appointed new agency CEO
The Guidance Center names new CEO to oversee $36 million non-profit
After a national search the Board of Directors of The Guidance Center has selected Kari Walker to serve as the agency's new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Walker, who has been a member of the senior leadership team at The Guidance Center since 1996, becomes only the third person to serve in this capacity in the agency's 52-year history.
Walker, who earned his Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, has been The Guidance Center Chief Operating Officer for the last 14 years. During his time with the agency he has been instrumental in developing new business plans, cultivating public/private partnerships, and creating new service delivery networks to impact the lives of thousands of children and adults in southeast Michigan.
Walker's collaborative efforts have proven successful to the operations at The Guidance Center and have grown the agency's budget from $8 million in 1996 to $36 million today.
In 2000, he fostered a partnership with Southwest Solutions to develop Bridgeway Services, Inc., which operates an $18-million per year contract to serve delinquent youth at both Southwest Solutions and The Guidance Center.
Walker also served as Project Manager and Interim CEO for Behavioral Health Professionals, Inc. (BHPI) from 2001-02 to direct this joint venture corporation of eight non-profit organizations (including The Guidance Center) in response to new Medicaid requirements in Wayne County during that fiscal year. BHPI and its subsidiaries -- Care Link and Consumer Link Network -- continue to manage an annual operating budget of more than $120 million to provide behavioral health and developmental disabilities benefits for Medicaid enrollees in Detroit and Wayne County.
In 2007 he worked with the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency to implement key aspects of the Virtual Center of Excellence (VCE) to provide continuing education and workforce development to the 15,000 workers in the Detroit Wayne County CMH system. As part of this effort, Walker led the development of the website www.vceonline.org
"I believe in the power of individuals and communities to transform themselves and am committed to serve people in our region across the developmental spectrum," said Walker. "It is an honor for me to lead The Guidance Center as the new CEO as we focus on the expansion and creation of programs for one of the most innovative human services agenies in the country."
Prior to joining The Guidance Center, he served as the Deputy Director of Community Care Services in Lincoln Park, Mich., from 1990-96.
