CHiPS announces new Executive Director Shivonne McKay

The Board of Directors of CHiPS is pleased to announce the appointment of Shivonne C. McKay as the new Executive Director, effective Monday, January 25, 2021.

“In 2021, CHIPS will celebrate 50 years of service to those who are hungry and in need of shelter. That work has been done by hundreds of volunteers following the direction of a talented and dedicated staff, and we are thrilled that Shivonne has accepted our invitation to continue that leadership,” said Jim Ryan, President of the Board of Directors of CHiPS. “Her work experience at other social service agencies, coupled with her educational accomplishments and— most importantly— her empathy for people who are currently struggling, give us confidence that CHIPS will be in good hands.”

McKay has dedicated her life to confronting systems of inequity for marginalized populations through a faith and social justice lens. Most recently, Ms. McKay spent four years as the founding Executive Director of the Jeremiah Program’s Brooklyn campus, working alongside a dedicated team to provide affordable housing, life skills training, and college access to women and quality early childhood education to their children.

McKay completed her undergraduate studies at The Pennsylvania State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She holds an MBA from American Intercontinental University, a Master of Education Administration degree from Adelphi University, and a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.

“It is with both humility and excitement that I express my gratitude for the opportunity to lead CHIPS into its next phase of service in the community,” said Ms. McKay. “As a first-generation American citizen, born to Jamaican immigrant parents, I understand the magnitude of the responsibility that is called for to serve those who may be experiencing hunger or displacement who once may have had a dream for better. It will be servant-leadership that will drive me and my commitment to building a strong infrastructure while expanding the mission alongside the staff, board, and broader community. Hence, broadening CHIPS’s impact so that no one is hungry or left behind.”