Mary Kilpatrick, ASL Class of 2002, Named Executive Director of CASA for Kids Inc.

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Andy Dietrich, president of the CASA for Kids Inc. board of directors, announced Saturday that the agency has hired a new executive director.

Mary Kilpatrick, a Kingsport resident who already serves the agency as a volunteer, will take on the director's role effective Sept. 13. In a written announcement of the appointment, Deitrich said that Kilpatrick will spend her first couple of months working alongside current Executive Director Connie Steere, who after 18 years of service is retiring Nov. 1.

 After earning a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management at Tusculum College, Kilpatrick studied law and earned a Juris Doctor cum laude at the Appalachian School of Law. It was while in law school that she learned about CASA's work. Later, she decided to get involved. She completed the CASA for Kids training and was sworn in as a Court Appointed Special Advocate in October 2012. Since then, Kilpatrick has served as a CASA volunteer on five cases.

Originally from Knoxville, Kilpatrick also has worked as a dental hygienist and then co-owned with her husband their own Surgoinsville, Tenn.-based business, MIS Inc., before moving to Kingsport.
She also has been active in community projects and organizations, including The Rogersville Hawkins County Chamber of Commerce, The Rogersville Heritage Association, chairwoman of Heritage Days, campaign chairwoman and board member of the Hawkins County United Way, and serving as board member, then chairwoman of The Rogersville City School Board.

She has two biological children and then fostered two more. She now has eight grandchildren. When the executive director position at CASA was advertised, Kilpatrick said, her own children encouraged her to apply.

Kilpatrick joins a staff of eight. This past fiscal year, with the work of 100-plus active volunteers and the leadership of 18 board directors, CASA for Kids Inc. served 590 alleged abused and, or neglected children coming to the attention of the four juvenile courts in Sullivan and Hawkins counties.