Western New York’s largest nonprofit service provider will undergo a top-level leadership change this week with the retirement of James Boles.
Effective Wednesday, Oct. 1, People Inc. will transition from Boles as president/CEO to Rhonda Frederick, longtime COO.
Operating with a budget of $144 million, People Inc. provides services to individuals with disabilities as well as seniors, serving 12,000 clients with a workforce topping 3,200.
Frederick joined the agency in 1980 as a social worker and has worked her way up the administrative ranks. She has held the chief operating officer post since 2002. Frederick is also extremely active among DD agencies statewide and locally through her role as president of the Developmentally Disabilities Alliance of WNY (DDAWNY).
She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Rochester Institute of Technology and a master’s of public administration from Canisius College.
The transition is the next in a wave of retirements among agencies serving individuals with developmental disabilities, detailed in a Business First story this spring.
Next up could be Michael Gross, who announced in January he would retire Oct. 31 as CEO at Heritage Centers, a $44 million agency that serves the same population. The search for his successor continues, led by Sharon Randaccio, owner of executive search firm Performance Partners.