Las Vegas, NV—The Josephine Herrick Project (JHP) named Adriana Echavarria-Eisenhower its new executive director. She will lead the nonprofit’s expansion in service to New Yorkers and others around the U.S. For 75 years, JHP has encouraged the art of photography as a way to help individuals facing significant obstacles find expression and build self-esteem.
Echavarria-Eisenhower brings extensive experience growing the capacity of nonprofits focused on children, health, women and the environment. She is also an accomplished photographer and photojournalist.
She most recently served as a board member for the American Friends of Fundacion Cardio Infantil. The American philanthropy group supports a children’s hospital in Colombia, where Echavarria-Eisenhower was born.
Echavarria-Eisenhower is the great-granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States. She spent her teenage years and most of her working life in New York City.
“Images offer communicative power to everyone regardless of the challenges they face in their lives,” Echavarria-Eisenhower said. “The Josephine Herrick Project’s work is even more relevant today. Social media like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook broaden the reach of visual imagery and make it ever-more possible to help people facing significant obstacles in life share their stories with the world.”
The new JHP executive director is looking to further expand JHP’s ongoing efforts working in VA medical centers and other venues to help military veterans through photographic arts.
“Josephine Herrick, who founded JHP 75 years ago as Rehabilitation Through Photography, very well may have chosen Adriana Echavarria-Eisenhower herself to serve as executive director,” said Matt Sweetwood, JHP board president.
“The career paths and family influences of these two women are significantly comparable. We feel incredibly lucky to have someone joining the JHP team whose background in both professional photography and philanthropy fits in so well with our mission as an organization.”
JHP
Since 1941, the Josephine Herrick Project (JHP), formerly Rehabilitation through Photography, has implemented a broad range of photography programs. The 501 (c)(3) nonprofit has providing training, direction and equipment to undeserved communities.
Expanding the mission of its founder, JHP believes that by providing a creative platform to the physically and emotionally challenged, the elderly, at-risk youth, homeless and the visually impaired populations, it will both inspire and enable individuals to channel their energy in an expressive way.
“This reinforces independence, self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment that rekindles a lasting interest and enthusiasm about life. No longer are they labeled by their disability but they are enabled by their ability to connect to and capture the world around them through photography,” reads its mission statement. jhproject.org
