FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 5, 2024
Contact: Santino R. Thomas
(518) 949-4809 | [email protected]
ALBANY, N.Y. – Today, St. Catherine’s Center for Children, a health and human services agency operating in the Capital Region and beyond for nearly 140 years, announced the hiring of Cindy L. Kouhout, MPA, as the agency’s new executive director. Kouhout, originally from New York State, most recently served as executive director of Pregnancy Support Services in Chapel Hill and Durham, North Carolina.
“I am thrilled to be back in New York and to have the opportunity to lead such an incredible team and a well-respected organization with a long history of serving the Capital Region,” said Kouhout. “My entire career has been spent with organizations dedicated to social work and human services. Serving those in need has always been a passion of mine and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue it here with St. Catherine’s Center for Children.”
Kouhout brings with her, years of leadership experience, including nine years in an executive role with health and human service organizations. Throughout her career, she has led the previously mentioned Pregnancy Support Services in North Carolina; Auldern Academy, a therapeutic residential services program also in North Carolina and The Children’s Home of Kingston which offers a residential foster care program, a middle and high school, as well as an Office of Refugee Resettlement program in the Hudson Valley – home of several current programs for St. Catherine’s Center for Children.
Another example of her service to others, Kouhout spent five years coordinating volunteer missions to the Dominican Republic. Not only did she coordinate missions, but Kouhout actually sold her home and moved to Constanza, Dominican Republic for a year to serve in a hands-on capacity. During that time, her teams built homes and a health clinic while working tirelessly to provide support to the local community.
“Cindy Kouhout is a mission driven, service-oriented professional with years of leadership experience and we could not be happier with this selection,” said Mark Ustin, president of St. Catherine’s Board of Directors. “We look forward to the bright future of our Agency and all the continued good it will do under Cindy’s leadership.”
“We are so excited with the hiring of Cindy Kouhout as the Agency’s new executive director. The Agency and the Foundation of St. Catherine’s Center for Children work hand-in-hand to serve children, families and individuals in need and we know our partnership will grow even stronger with Cindy at the helm,” said Christopher Farrell, chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Kouhout holds a Master of Public Administration from Marist College where the focus of her studies was Organizational Change and Effective Executive Leadership. She now succeeds Frank Pindiak as St. Catherine’s new executive director. Kouhout will begin her role immediately, leading the agency and its more than 20 individual programs that currently serve the Capital Region and Hudson Valley.
The willingness of St. Catherine’s Center for Children to embrace change and develop new services is, and will remain, our guiding philosophy as we support human service needs, throughout the region, by providing a comprehensive range of services designed to offer hope, foster growth and improve the lives of the children, families and adults we serve.
For more information, http://www.st-cath.org.
