It’s amazing when you stop and reflect on the path that the Lord has been taking you down. Sometimes you don’t understand things along the way, sometimes it’s a smooth ride. I’ve been reflecting a lot the last couple of years and I’ve been processing where the Lord has me going in the path ahead. He’s provided a little more clarity for me the last month.

After 12 years of developing and leading Every Neighborhood Partnership in its quest to serve our local elementary schools and neighborhoods through the activation of our churches, residents, businesses and universities, I’ve decided to start a new path with another organization.

Later this summer I’ll be transitioning to the Central Valley Community Foundation, assisting them with the Neighborhood Development work within the DRIVE initiative. This new challenge will allow me to continue my personal calling of being an instrument in our community’s transformational goal to be an equitable, healthy and thriving place to live. I believe being a part of ENP for the last decade plus has equipped me for this new role.

I’ve had the great blessing of working with so many amazing individuals since we launched ENP. The smartest thing I ever did was find myself an amazing Board to support me and surround myself with a staff much smarter than me. I’ve learned so much from each of these individuals over the years. To all of them I say THANK YOU; each of you have been a huge blessing in my life.

Andrew Feil, our current Associate Director, will be leading things up once I step down. It won’t be too big of a transition. The reality is that Andrew has been running the day to day work of ENP the last couple of years. Because my amazing Board has given me the freedom to branch out into the myriad workings of our city, I’ve really spent the majority of my time serving our community through our large initiatives, coalitions, and steering committees.

I sometimes tell people that I’m in the Doctorate Program at the School of Fresno. My instructors have been the kids in our schools, our families in the neighborhoods, my CBO colleagues, our institutional leaders, our local church and business leaders and everyone else that calls this community home. It’s a Doctorate Program that you never really graduate from, the lessons never end. I’ve still got so much to learn.

So though the organization that signs my paychecks will change, my work really won’t. The reality is, I work for our community, always have, and I love doing it.

Thank you, ENP, while I was helping to serve our community, you were developing me. Now on to the next chapter of service.

Abundant blessings to each of you.

Artie Padilla