Terri Beck, executive director of Everybody Wins! Atlanta, a literacy nonprofit, will direct the Atlanta bar.
John Disney, Daily Report
The Atlanta Bar Association has found a new executive director at last.
Terri Beck, the executive director of Everybody Wins! Atlanta, a nonprofit promoting child literacy, will succeed Diane O'Steen, who is retiring after 26 years as the bar's executive director and 47 years with the organization.
Lynn Roberson, the Atlanta Bar's president, said Beck's experience running a nonprofit with close ties to the legal community, plus her interpersonal skills, will allow her to make a smooth transition.
"We were looking for someone who was going to be able to manage a large staff—someone who could deal with the various personalities among the membership and on the board comfortably—and whom we were going to be comfortable with," Roberson said.
At the Atlanta Bar, Beck will oversee a staff of 14 and work with 18 board members.
Beck has strong relationships with the local legal community because it is one of the primary supporters of her literacy nonprofit, said Rita Sheffey, the bar's immediate past president, who led the search for O'Steen's replacement.
"She is a good fit in dealing with our constituencies," Sheffey said.
Beck will start her new job on Jan. 14. O'Steen will stay on until the end of January to help with the transition, Roberson said. "Terri has had a lot of interactions with us over the years and knows what she's getting into. I think the transition will be pretty easy for her and for us."
Search resumed
Mary Lynne McInnis, the Atlanta Bar's director of continuing legal education for 26 years, is also retiring at the end of January, Roberson said, so Beck will join the organization during a time of leadership change.
O'Steen had originally planned to retire in June, but the first search for her replacement did not pan out.
Sheffey, who headed the search committee, said they did not find the right person for the job—so O'Steen agreed to postpone her retirement while they undertook a new search.
