The board of directors at support organization Bethesda Lutheran Communities has appointed its new president and chief executive officer, Mike Thirtle.
Thirtle has been with the Watertown-based nonprofit organization, which is a national support provider for those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, since the fall of 2013. At the time, Thirtle was appointed as the enterprise’s vice president for strategy and information services. Following this, he was later named as the company’s vice president.
However, since his predecessor John Bauer announced his retirement in September this year, Thirtle has been serving as Bethesda’s acting president and CEO. Following this successful spell, he has been appointed in this role full-time, meaning that Thirtle could be seeking business card printing in the near future.
As one of his first executive decisions, Thirtle appointed Jeff Kaczmarski as the company’s executive vice president, following a successful period as interim vice president since the company parted with John Bauer. Kaczmarski has also served in the legal department as vice president of legal affairs and has been working with the organization since 1993.
In an official statement, Thirtle acknowledged that this would be the start of a new era for Bethesda and he will be looking to transform the enterprise into “a truly great organization” that can move forward.
Bethesda supports close to 1,800 people across 13 states, including California, Colorado, and Texas.
