Leesburg Today - The Journal of Loudoun County - Loudoun Red Cross Executive Ready To Turn Local Chapter Around

Leesburg Today - The Journal of Loudoun County - Loudoun Red Cross Executive Ready To Turn Local Chapter Around: "'I received a knock on my door,' she said. 'It was the Red Cross. They said they were just checking on everybody. It was such a comforting feeling. Whenever I think of the Red Cross I think of the symbol I saw that morning. I thought, 'wow-this is the kind of thing I want to do next.' Being the one to make sure that happens in our community is important to me.'

To Birkenstock, 32, it became the next step in her career. Birkenstock accepted a position with Loudoun County's Red Cross in November.

Prior to her position with the New York City Fire Department, Birkenstock led development efforts at the International Association of Fire Chiefs in Fairfax for three years. She also worked as an executive with the Boy Scouts of American in Washington, DC and Indianapolis, IN, her hometown.

Though she has English and Russian double major bachelors degrees from DePauw University, she believes her experience studying at Georgetown University's Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program will assist her most in her newest endeavors-to get the Loudoun Red Cross chapter's expenses and revenues in line and set some realistic goals for the new year."