Face It TOGETHER co-founder and COO to retire
September 29, 2015
News release
SIOUX FALLS, SD – Face It TOGETHER announced today that its co-founder and longtime Chief Operating Officer, Charlie Day, will retire at the end of the month.
Day co-founded the local organization Face It TOGETHER Sioux Falls in 2009 to transform the community’s approach to drug and alcohol addiction. Day helped spearhead a series of town hall meetings, enlisting a wide range of stakeholders, which ultimately led to the creation of the organization. In 2011, Day and his co-founder Kevin Kirby then formed a national organization, Face It TOGETHER, to proliferate the Sioux Falls model to other communities.
Day had a formative influence on Face It TOGETHER Sioux Falls, serving as a strategic voice on the board of directors and a champion of its focus on private sector engagement, including the Workplace Initiative, which helps employers create recovery-friendly workplaces.
Day’s many other contributions include shaping the strategic direction of the national organization, which drove its growth into three states and generated national recognition for innovation in addressing drug and alcohol addiction.
“Charlie has had a profound influence on this organization and its success,” said CEO Kevin Kirby. “His strategic vision and creative problem solving have helped us navigate challenges as well as seize opportunities. His cutting edge thinking has helped us harness forces of change to transform how we address addiction in our communities. It’s been a true privilege to work alongside him.”
Day’s retirement comes as Face It TOGETHER shifts from a startup organization seeking to define itself in a competitive and significantly transforming healthcare market to a business establishing local, regional and national clients and partnerships. Face It TOGETHER will now leverage Day’s experience and strategic guidance as a corporate visionary to execute a long-term business strategy Day helped craft.
“In the last several years I’ve been privileged to help drive strategy and fuel problem solving for an insidious disease that negatively impacts way too many children and families. But my greatest joy has been in assembling a team of committed and fearless social entrepreneurs to apply what’s been created but will continue to innovate. The right people are on the bus to see the mission, vision and values of Face It TOGETHER are lived and furthered," said Day.
Day is a lawyer and CPA and nationally recognized expert in healthcare finance. Prior to founding Face It TOGETHER, Day enjoyed a successful career as a tax partner in one of the original Big 8 accounting firms, senior finance executive at Sanford Health and startup entrepreneur with a variety of companies across the country.