For 12 years, Susie Brusa worked for Rancho Cielo Youth Campus, an alternative education campus in the Gabilan foothills of Salinas. She was the nonprofit's first professional staff member starting in 2009, and she left her role as executive director in September of 2021.
She went on to work as the district director for U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, and then to manage philanthropic efforts for agribusiness Taylor Farms. She was traveling when she got a phone call last week from current Rancho Cielo board members asking her if she'd return to the organization as an interim executive director in the wake of the resignation of the former executive director, Chris Devers.
"It's almost impossible for me to say no," Brusa says. "It's not necessarily something I want to do, but I love that place so much and I love those kids so much."
Her first day as interim was Monday, Sept. 14. She says she has been assured by the board that their time frame for a national recruitment effort for a long-term director is three to four months; meanwhile, she will stay on in her Taylor Farms philanthropy job.
"We are delighted to welcome Susie back to Rancho Cielo,” board chair Pete Scudder said in a statement. “The board has tremendous confidence in her ability to provide experienced and steady leadership during this transition.”
Devers was not reachable for comment and the board has not provided any explanation about his departure.
Brusa says she will focus on keeping things running smoothly in her interim leadership period, rather than looking to implement big changes.
"It's not a time for giant change, it's a time to look underneath the hood and see if there is anything that needs strengthening so when the next person comes in, we hand it to them confidently," Brusa says.
Rancho Cielo was founded in 2000 by now-retired judge and county supervisor John Phillips and has expanded to a staff of dozens, serving thousands of students with degree programs and vocational training in fields like culinary, classic automotive repair, ag mechanics, solar installation and welding.