Peter Wrinch stepping down as CEO of Hollyhock

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Peter Wrinch is stepping down from his position as CEO of Hollyhock. 

"My last day will be July 31st this year. That will be exactly seven years, to the day," he explained.

"The reason I'm leaving is a much deeper question. I'm 49 years old.  I'm turning 50 next year.  This is my second job as an executive director or CEO.  When I finished the first one, I said, 'Well, I will never do that job again” and then a few years later, I took on this role.

Coming into Hollyhock, I had very little sense of the depth and warmth and connection of this place. I also knew that I would not stay forever. I'm so happy that I got to experience the love that is Hollyhock. And, I am clear that my purpose at this stage of my life is to figure out how to support organizational leaders instead of being one myself. I've thught about this quite deeply and see this ending as a call to a deeper purpose.

“Heather Deeth who's been Hollyhock’s Chief Product Officer for two years and is an incredible colleague and incredible friend will take over as interim CEO for the foreseeable future. We have written a new strategic plan for our organization and are socializing it through our networks. The idea is that the board is going to hire the next full time organizational leader through the prism of the new strategic plan. I feel really confident in that view."

“Hollyhock has changed a lot in the seven years that I've been leading it. I had come from working in startups - political, advocacy, technology - and to come into an organization that was 37 years old was a new experience for me. When I came in, I did not regard myself as a change agent, but more as someone who culd manifest what was wanting to come through - mostly by getting out of the way. The change that has happened in the organization over the past seven years is the result of many, many beautiful hands.”

“It has occasionally been seductive to define my tenure through the lens of the pandemic. And there is no doubt that the pandemic changed all of our lives, and certainly changed my trajectory here. However, I have come to see it as an amazing time to lead the organization. It allowed us to lead from values and I am very proud of the way we led through those years."