Trudy Stewler Hodges Named Independent Newspaper's Pick for Best Nonprofit Leader

	Trudy Stewler Hodges Executive Director

Some charitable nonprofits live off their identity, national as well as local. Others rise or fall more on the quality and stability of their leadership. In the case of CASA of the Pikes Peak Region, there's a unique dynamic: a singular driving force. Director Trudy Strewler Hodges was the local CASA chapter's first employee, starting in 1989, and in her 21 years, has turned this agency into a national CASA role model. Locally, CASA has worked to improve the lives of 6,000 children in El Paso and Teller counties, with an impressive stable of volunteers who are the lifeblood, working directly with kids and their families. But the most amazing aspect of Hodges' impact has been fundraising. Just this past spring, CASA's annual Light of Hope breakfast and lunch events drew 1,800 inspired attendees, who pledged nearly $360,000 (an average of $200 per person) to help CASA serve hundreds more neglected and/or abused kids. That's worth recognition, starting at the top. — Ralph Routon, Colorado Springs Independent, October 2010