John Carreon has joined AbleLight as the new Chief Advancement Officer, bringing with him nearly three decades of leadership experience in both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. In his new role, John will oversee development and marketing operations, focusing on building the AbleLight brand and a culture of philanthropy across the organization.
John’s extensive background includes leadership roles in organizations where he specialized in strategic planning, major gifts, and organizational development. John was also Partner & CEO of a consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations develop a philanthropic mindset.
He has been actively involved in the disability-based arena and like organizations, both as a volunteer and engaging from a community perspective to help drive more inclusive programs. For the past 25 years, John has served as a faculty member at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
His experiences underscore his deep commitment to advancing nonprofit causes and vast knowledge in both the IDD community and the entire nonprofit sector.
Why John Said Yes to AbleLight
After nearly a year of consulting for AbleLight, John saw the significant progress the organization had recently made and was inspired by the organization’s potential. “The organization is well positioned to have real impact on its communities and the faith component piece is really important. Just from a perspective of the idea of unconditional love, for me as a father with three daughters and one with severe disabilities is the idea that everyone is equal in God’s eyes. Everyone has the same value regardless of their abilities or lack of abilities. That rolls into the second point, which is Celina*. It’s a way for me to honor her and her life.”
*Celina is John’s daughter with severe disabilities that he mentions above.
What He’s Excited For
“I’m excited for the opportunity to work with the team to further the work that’s been done over the past, I would say three years in particular, to really position the organization at a local and national level as a real player on the field.” As AbleLight continues to evolve, John is motivated by the direction we are headed in, “We’re going into our 120th Celebration. Everything is just aligning and it’s just exciting.” He is also eager to tackle the new opportunities with this role, “I’m really looking forward to getting into the markets, getting involved at a strategy level with ELT [Executive Leadership Team] on where should we go? What should it look like?”
His Team and Their Focus
John’s team has three major focuses, “we have to get involved in our communities, we have to create a strong brand, then we focus on raising money.” He emphasizes how brand development and fundraising are dependent on strong community engagement. “We’ve got to get back involved at the community level so that the communities understand us, know who we are, know we’re there. And that has to have a faith component. We have to reach out to the communities of faith.”
Vision for the Future
Looking ahead, John envisions a fully integrated advancement team. “We pulled the Marketing Team onto the Development Team and we call it the Advancement Team. Advancement is how we leverage our brand in the communities.” This new team structure is a collective approach to support growth for marketing, programs and services, and fundraising together. “The vision for the team moving forward is that we are in alignment and we can scale growth quickly.”
###
About AbleLight
AbleLight is a national leader in pioneering life-changing services that empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to thrive. Founded in 1904 in Wisconsin as a Christian Mission, AbleLight promotes independence and inclusion across the U.S. through comprehensive and individualized supports that include housing, employment, spiritual life, financial services, assistive technology and much more. For details, go to AbleLight.org, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.