Welcome to Christa Staley to Graceland Center Board of Directors
Christa Staley, Executive Director for the Peoria Midwest Food Bank, has graciously joined the Graceland Center for Purposeful Aging Board of Directors. We are thrilled for her to join our team with her expertise and passion for the wellbeing of others. Please enjoy her statement of joining the board.
People are important to me, especially those who have a need that is not being fulfilled. As servant leader in our community I want to join efforts focused on the underserved and make changes that help provide a better tomorrow, more consistency in community, relationships, and activities that are so important for people to grow and thrive and I know that is what Graceland is doing today and will continue to expand in the future, for our seniors in the Peoria area.
I am the Executive Director leading Peoria Midwest Food bank. My leadership skills and experience span over two decades in corporate and non-profit roles and I have over fifteen years of human resource/HRM experience. My key areas of knowledge are effective and servant leadership, full cycle human resources, and non-profit development (donor relations/fundraising). I hold a bachelor’s degree in business with management focus and a master’s degree in organizational leadership. I have served in various philanthropic roles since 2001, currently fulfilling volunteer and advisor roles with Multicultural Leadership Institute, Mclean County, IL (served as a board member 2012-2015, & on their recruitment committee- events/interviewing/selection 2013-2023) previous roles include, volunteering with the following non-profits: Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Illinois mentorship of youth 2001-2024 (served as vice chair of their board 2009-2012), Home Sweet Home Ministries (2018-2020), and West Bloomington Revitalization Project (2018-2024). Additionally, I have served in several volunteer roles at local events supporting Relay for Life and Compassion International.
Originally from Bloomington, IL, my husband, and I moved to a rural area south of Peoria over a decade ago, and find peace and solace from the busyness of life, on our six acres amidst the corn and bean fields of central Illinois, where the skies are a beautiful sight morning, noon, and night. We have two rescue dogs and a rescue cat who keep life entertaining. We enjoy any opportunity to travel, and albeit limited in this season of life, we typically find time for an annual trip to a national park in our RV and as a certified yoga instructor I am able to travel teach at international resorts which serve as a little bit of work in turn for a discounted week long vacation, for the two of us, at least once each year.