FARGO, ND (December 5, 2011) - Fargo resident Randy D. Johnson has been selected as the new CEO of the Minn-Kota Region of the American Red Cross. Volunteer chairman of the local Red Cross board of directors Duane A. Lillehaug announced the selection today.
“We are thrilled to have Randy Johnson as our new chapter CEO,” Lillehaug said. “He comes to the Red cross at a time of both great changes to our organization and a point when our services have never been more in demand all over the nation. In the past year the Red Cross in our region has responded to a disaster every 19 hours. In addition, we had a very difficult period of flooding which required our volunteers and staff to work long hours for many months to ensure that local disaster needs were met. It wasn’t until October that we closed our last shelter from the floods that began in Minot in May.”
“Randy brings a wealth of experience and ability to the position, and he will be a great addition to the team,” Regional Chapter Board member and Search Committee Chair Mark Jensen said. “Randy’s knowledge of the Red River Valley and the state of North Dakota will allow him to lead our dedicated group of staff and volunteers in the entire Minn-Kota Region service area.”
Johnson, who has been the Vice President for Human Resources and Development at the Noridian Mutual Insurance Company since 2006, will assume his new duties on January 9, 2012. Johnson is a 1985 graduate of North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science in AgBusiness.
“I am very proud to serve the American Red Cross in this role,” Johnson said. “It is an organization that does so much good for so many. I am very excited about this opportunity.”
Since August 2011the Region has been operating under the guidance of interim CEO Vijay Sethi who came to the Red Cross from Clay County, Minnesota.
“We are extremely pleased with the appointment of Randy Johnson to lead the Minn-Kota Chapter,” Jim Hamilton, vice president of the Northwest and Pacific Islands Division of the American Red Cross said. “And we also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Vijay Sethi who stepped in to take the helm at the chapter as the interim CEO in August 2011. He worked very hard to bring our staff and volunteers together and move the chapter forward at a time when the national organization was coping with far-reaching changes and we were still in the midst of a very active disaster period. We wish Vijay great success in his future endeavors.”
About the American Red Cross: The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation’s blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.
