from staff
Jacksonville Community Council Inc. Vice President Ben Warner was promoted to president and CEO effective Sept. 1, succeeding Skip Cramer, who is retiring.
JCCI announced the move this morning.
“I could not be happier with Ben’s selection for this vital leadership position. His credentials, locally, nationally and internationally, are impeccable,” said JCCI Board Chair William C. Mason.
Cramer held the post for seven years. He plans to remain in the area and stay active in the community as a volunteer and consultant.
Warner joined JCCI in September 1998 as a senior community planner and rose quickly to deputy director, the No. 2 position on the JCCI staff.
As a result of board and staff title changes this year, Warner became vice president.
“We conducted a thorough nationwide search for our new CEO and found the perfect person right here,” said John Hirabayashi, search committee and incoming JCCI chair.
JCCI said more than 70 national and local candidates were screened using detailed criteria developed by the committee.
“As incoming board chairman, I am delighted to be working with Ben. He has the intellect, experience, energy and reputation to take this organization to the next level,” said Hirabayashi.
Warner graduated from Brigham Young University and received his master’s in social work from Florida State University. He is the past chair of the National Association of Planning Councils and the international Community Indicators Consortium.
He is a graduate of the class of 2005 of the Northeast Florida Regional Leadership Academy and Leadership Jacksonville’s class of 2008.
Warner has represented JCCI nationally and internationally in the areas of community indicators, citizen engagement and community visioning.
He is the recipient of the National Association of Planning Council’s 2010 Distinguished Service Award and the 1997 Michael R. Wilson Social Justice Award of the National Association of Social Workers.
Warner will be introduced officially at JCCI’s 36th annual meeting Sept. 9 at the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership.
The annual meeting features guest speaker Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas, with whom Warner worked in 2010-11, creating a community vision for San Antonio in the year 2020.