VoA names first Black woman as CEO

25th January 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

The Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana broke ground nationwide this year by selecting Voris Roberts Vigee as the organization’s new president and chief executive officer. With the hiring, Vigee became the first Black woman to hold those positions at any VOA affiliates.

Vigee told The Louisiana Weekly that as a longtime VOA employee, she sees her new job as the culmination of a lifetime of service, adding that she is grateful for the opportunity to grow the VOA’s many community efforts.

“I’ve been employed with Volunteers of America for 26 years, and I’m blessed to have the amazing opportunity to serve the community in this capacity,” Vigee said. “The ability to touch so many people and afford them to share their thoughts about what we as an organization can do together truly excites me.”

Vigee added that she is especially proud of her new position given her gender and race.

“I understood at a very young age that as a Black female, I needed to be better than the best,” she said. “I am one of the many living examples of women of color who are committed to excellence. I have one piece of advice – believe in yourself even when no one else does, know who and whose you are, and remain true to yourself and others. Keep the faith.”

Vigee succeeds James M. LeBlanc as executive director and CEO of VOASELA. LeBlanc served in the position for nearly 30 years, and he compiled more than 37 years of service to the VOA overall.

In a recent press release, Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana Board Chair Christy Howley Connois said Vigee was a natural choice for the organization.

“After three decades of incredible leadership [from LeBlanc], the board of directors knew we had a major challenge in finding the right person for this important job,” Connois said. “Voris Vigee brings all of the important qualities we were looking for in a new CEO: experience in this challenging work, passion for the people we serve, and a lifelong commitment to helping the most vulnerable in our communities to propel us forward into the future. She is also well-known among other local and national nonprofit social service and housing organizations. The board of directors is happy to announce Voris Vigee as our choice for president and CEO.”

Before being chosen president/CEO, Vigee served as executive vice president for programs at VOASELA, where she managed more than 20 diverse programs such as intellectual and developmental disability services, veteran services, adoption and maternity services throughout the 16-parish Southeast Louisiana region. She has also been a commissioned minister of Volunteers of America for more than two decades and currently serves on the VOA national board of directors.

Vigee’s educational background includes a masters of nonprofit administration from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a masters of business administration and a bachelors of science in psychology. A Chicago native, Vigee moved to New Orleans to attend Xavier University of Louisiana.

In addition to her tenure with VOASELA, Vigee’s work in the community includes serving as a board member at the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute, of which she is a 2011 alumnae; service on the boards of St. Paul’s Episcopal School, New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, and New Orleans Chapter of the Institute for Real Estate Management; membership in the Pontchartrain Chapter of The Links, Inc., and in the Rho Pi Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; and two decades as an international surveyor for Commission for Accreditation Rehabilitation Facilities, a recognized accreditation commission for social service agencies.

Vigee hits the ground running in her new position with the ongoing creation and implementation of VOASELA’s new strategic planning process, which provides the agency an opportunity to collect feedback from various key stakeholders in the community. The organization hopes to have the strategic plan finalized in May, with implementation to begin by July 1.

“Folks need to know that we want them to help create and mold Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana’s vision for the future, because they’re a part of it,” Vigee said.

VOASELA is also preparing to launch its Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) plan, which Vigee said reflects the agency’s focus “on understanding the importance and value of diversity of thought, people and experiences.”

With that understanding, she added, the VOA will be equipped with the knowledge necessary “for true advocacy on behalf of the vulnerable and marginalized populations we serve.”
“We have wonderful people who are committed to Volunteers of America’s mission and they are the fabric of this organization,” she added. “However, wonderful people with wonderful intentions can harm others because words matter. As a servant leader, I will afford the people I work with the opportunity to learn more about DEI because one thing is for sure: when you know better, you should do better.”

Vigee also began her tenure in her new position by realigning the structure of VOASELA to provide refreshed thinking on the organization’s work in the community, and she also hopes to boost the VOA’s brand awareness as a way to “engage more people about the collective work we do.”

“The community has very limited knowledge of the many social services Volunteers of America provides,” she said, “and I’m committed to ensuring Volunteers of America is no longer the best kept secret. There are so many folks in need, and I need them to know that they can count on Volunteers of America to help them navigate and identify resources to meet their needs.”

As she settles into her new position, Vigee wants to build on the VOA’s extensive reputation as a community builder and provider of much needed services to disadvantaged populations, including women and people of color.

She said that with the negative medical and economic effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the need for organizations like VOASELA remains high. Vigee added that local VOA will continue to provide a wide array of public services to thousands of people, including many communities of color.

Such services include providing food, health care, adoption, maternity counseling, minor home repairs for seniors, mentoring, housing, mental health programs, substance abuse efforts, benefit and resource coordination, and case management for individuals affected by HIV/AIDS.

This article originally published in the January 25, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.