Karen McGlinn, Executive Director of Share Our Selves, Joins ABL

Santa Ana, CA — February 15, 2011 — Karen McGlinn, Executive Director of Share Our Selves, has joined the Adaptive Business Leaders Organization (ABL). As part of California’s leading vertical-industry Chief Executives’ Organization, ABL Members provide one another with executive leadership coaching through its confidential, professionally-facilitated, peer-CEO Advisory Board Round Tables, executive learning workshops, network of CEO peers, and expert resources.

Karen has served as Executive Director of Share Our Selves (SOS) for the past 18 years and was a founding board member 40 years ago. She was part of the original group of parishioners at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church who conceived SOS. From these efforts, SOS has grown into one of the largest multi-service agencies for direct aid in Orange County.

SOS is one of the largest, most comprehensive, volunteer-based agencies providing safety-net services for homeless and low-income individuals and families in Orange County. All services are free and include medical and dental care, counseling, case management, food, clothing, financial assistance, legal aid, and special holiday programs.

Currently, Karen is a member of the Executive Committee of the Health Funders Partnership Health Care Safety Net Task Force overseeing four healthcare initiatives in the county. She is the Chair and Community Liaison for the UCI Institute for Clinical Translational Science. In June 2010, she was appointed to the Aging and Disability Resource Connection of Orange County (ADRC OC) Advisory Committee as a Consumer Representative. She has twice been a featured speaker on transformational leadership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Human Services Clinical Pharmaceutical Services. Karen is the past Chairperson of the Orange County Coalition of Community Clinics and a board member for seven years. She is a former member of the Nonprofit Advisory Board of Orange Coast Magazine, was a member of the CALRHIO California Team for Privacy and Security, and was a member of the Education Committee of the California Privacy Security Advisory Board, which reports to the Secretary for HHS in California. Karen has met with and counseled many board and staff members of local nonprofits who struggle with issues of leadership and funding to help them outline plans to move their agencies forward.

Karen has received numerous awards, including the 2010 Irvine Healthcare Foundation Inaugural Prize for innovation, creativity, success, and impact to the Orange County Community. In September 2008, she received the Community Health Care Research Advocate Award from the UCI Institute for Clinical Translational Science. Under her leadership, SOS received the 2009 Outstanding Organization award from UCI and CalOptima, and in 2010, SOS was named the Community Partner of the Year by Public Law Center.

About the Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization
ABL supports the needs of its Member CEOs by providing a place for top-level executives to draw on the experience, knowledge and skill sets of their peers in a vertical industry, personal advisory board – “multi-coach approach” – setting.

The core component of the CEO Membership experience is the group Round Table meeting. Members meet once a month for a half-day with a group of peer CEOs, Presidents, COOs and Division General Managers from non-competing companies, all from the same industry (healthcare, technology or life sciences), in a trusted and confidential board room-like setting, which allows ABL Members to tackle topics and enhance their decision making and business performance. Topics include: developing and honing new business strategies and best practices, new lines of business, “A-players” on the management team, and an effective board of directors, as well as understanding trends in new markets, mergers and acquisitions, compensation, and other “hot” topics brought to the Round Tables by the Members themselves.

ABL Members also gather several times a year at workshops and conferences to exchange ideas and connect with other chief executives beyond their own CEO peer groups. In effect, ABL Members serve as one another’s business coaches within the Round Tables and are encouraged to connect and leverage their co-Member peers’ particular skills and expertise for additional leadership coaching, one-on-one, outside of their monthly group meeting. In addition, each Round Table’s facilitator also serves as an objective business advisor, offering executive and industry insights and advice.

 ABL's Chief Executive Leadership Development Round Table program is currently offered in California's Greater Los Angeles, Orange and San Francisco County areas. More information about the ABL Organization can be found at http://www.abl.org .