If you’ve been partnering with OHOH for a while, you have grown with us through many stages.
We founded this organization with one simple goal: to raise money for childhood cancer research. We had no clue just how many people would join us in our fight, but we quickly realized that we are backed by an army full of passionate people who hate childhood cancer and want desperately to find cures and save lives.
So in September of 2014, Open Hands Overflowing Hearts was born, and our world changed forever.
They say that if a non-profit organization makes it five years, they graduate from “grassroots movement” and move into an incubation period of intense growth. I don’t know who “they” are, but they seem to be right! Here we are, 5 years in, and OHOH is growing more than ever.
So in 2019, the year of our fifth birthday, we decided that in order to grow properly, we would need to bring an Executive Director into our mix. We needed someone with experience, with passion, and with incredible leadership skills. If we want to end childhood cancer, we have to be bold and confident as we make decisions for our future, and I’m excited to tell you that we’ve found someone who meets all of these criteria and more. So without further ado…
Meet our new Executive Director, Sydney Hurley!
Sydney grew up in an Army family, so she attended eleven different schools as a kid. She graduated from Texas A&M in 2012, and we were lucky enough to find her as she was preparing to leave her most recent home in Norfolk, Nebraska, to be closer to her parents who retired on Lake Martin.
Though she’s worked in the non-profit sector for various causes and organizations for most of her career, her goal was always to make an impact with childhood cancer.
“My first experience with pediatric cancer was in 2002 when a friend of mine and classmate had cancer, Joel Bailey,” Sydney tells me. “He passed away in November of 2004 at the age of 13. And since then, I've wanted to work for a Children's Hospital, but I had no idea I could get this close to the cause.”
If you’ve had the privilege of meeting Sydney already, you know she’s vivacious, tenacious, and full of spirit. If you haven’t yet met her, well then it’s time for the two of you to grab some coffee. :)
In addition to telling me what the community should know about her professionally, Sydney also wanted to share that…
1. she just ran her first full marathon in October,
2. she has a dog named Riley and a cat named Lucy,
3. and her favorite foods are pasta, ice cream sandwiches, and grape koolaid.
Honestly, I think that tells you everything you need to know! But just for good measure, I’ll tell you why I’m personally so grateful for Sydney and her involvement with Open Hands Overflowing Hearts.
My own time spent in Birmingham since Sydney came onboard has been focused on connecting with families who are facing childhood cancer and helping them tell their most difficult stories in a meaningful way using photography and writing. This includes tough conversations about scary realities. It includes crying mamas and crying babies. It includes hope and joy, yes, but it also includes heartbreak and grief.
I knew what to expect when I stepped into my own role at OHOH; I had lived it already. But how do you prepare someone for what they’re about to experience in the world of childhood cancer when they haven’t walked in those shoes before? My answer is, “you can’t.”
But while I may not have adequately prepared Sydney for all she was about to see when she joined our team, you would never know it. She has walked with me through every hard conversation, all the sweet hugs from bald babies, the laughter and the tears, and she has loved every second of it.
“The best part of this job so far has been getting to meet the families and kiddos currently going through treatments, those who have already survived it, and those who lost a child to cancer,” Sydney tells me. “Their journeys and perspectives on life have drastically changed the way I look at everything.”
To say she loves the cause is an understatement. Beyond the momentum, the organization, the clarity, and the leadership that she’s brought to the table, what I’m thankful for the most is Sydney’s heart.
I ask her what her dream is for OHOH, and this is what she says:
“I would like to see OHOH be a premier provider of resources nationwide for researchers that offer the most promising and tangible results. I also want to see OHOH telling more stories of kiddos and families going through this battle to make people realize how scarily close pediatric cancer could truly be to their own family.”
Well… that’s my dream too. So I think we make a good team.
Until there’s a cure,
Kayla
If you’d like to meet Sydney…
Please drop a message here! I can say from personal experience that she is a great people-connector, a fantastic listener, and she’s always down for a good chat over tasty food and drink.