Southwest Human Development welcomes two new executives to its leadership team

Southwest Human Development, Arizona’s largest nonprofit dedicated to early childhood development, has hired Jeanette Ramos as the agency’s new chief financial officer and Kecia Blackson, JD, MS, as its vice president of Family Support Services.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jeanette and Kecia to our agency,” said Ginger Ward, chief executive officer of Southwest Human Development. “Both Jeanette and Kecia bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to these positions and I am confident they will help advance our agency’s continued growth and success.”

As CFO, Ramos will oversee the agency’s financial management functions, including agency and program budgets, general accounting, accounts receivable and payable, financial reporting, insurance, retirement plans and tax management. She is also responsible for providing strategic leadership for the agency by working with the executive management team and Board of Directors.

Ramos has more than 25 years of experience serving nonprofits. She is a licensed CPA in both Arizona and Pennsylvania, moving to Arizona in 2013 to join CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, a professional services firm and the eighth largest accounting firm in the U.S., as an audit manager in the nonprofits sector. She rose up through management and after three years became a signing director serving nonprofit clients both locally and nationally.

Leading the Family Support Services department, Blackson joins Southwest Human Development’s senior leadership team with more than 25 years of broad experience in child welfare and juvenile criminal justice. Blackson has been a licensed attorney for two decades. As a family law practitioner, she assisted clients’ divorce litigation and “common sense” custody agreements. She also practiced immigration law, focusing on family-based visas as well as some asylum litigation.

Before joining Southwest Human Development, Blackson last served as the executive director of the Delaware Child Placement Review Board where she provided administrative oversight to the state’s foster care system. She has also taught child development and psychology courses at local community colleges and universities.

To learn more about Southwest Human Development’s leadership team, visit swhd.org/leadership.