After more than 20 years with Comhlámh, we are saying a very fond farewell to Elena Garcia, our Finance Manager and a much-loved member of the Comhlámh community.
For more than two decades, Elena has brought an extraordinary depth of knowledge, experience and commitment to Comhlámh. And while finance has been at the heart of her role, her contribution has reached far beyond it. Over the years, she has played an important part in so much of the life of the organisation – from operations, membership, HR, health and safety and governance to organisational development – helping Comhlámh navigate many different periods of change along the way.
Elena has been part of countless conversations, decisions, audits, budgets, Board meetings, policy reviews, staff handbooks, health and safety updates and all the many behind-the-scenes things that keep an organisation going. She has carried an extraordinary amount of Comhlámh’s institutional knowledge, and has always been someone people could turn to when they needed to understand how something worked, why it worked that way, or simply what needed to happen next!
But it is difficult to capture Elena’s contribution just through a list of everything she has done. For those of us who have had the privilege of working alongside her over many years, she has been such a constant presence in the life of Comhlámh. There is something very special about working with someone who has been part of an organisation for so long – someone who remembers the people, the stories, the changes, the challenges and all the twists and turns that have brought us to where we are today.
On behalf of everyone at Comhlámh, thank you, Elena. Thank you for your commitment, your hard work, your generosity and for everything you have given to Comhlámh and to the people who work here.
We’ll miss your knowledge and experience, your perspective, and the care and support you have shown to colleagues over so many years. You have been someone people could rely on, not only for your expertise, but for your generosity, your patience and your willingness to help. You have contributed so much to the sense of community within Comhlámh, and to creating the conditions for others to do their work well. Most of all, we’ll miss you – your everyday presence and the particular place you’ve held in the Comhlámh community for so many years.
It is hard to imagine Comhlámh without you!
Wishing you every happiness and every success in whatever comes next.
Thank you, Elena, and go n-éirí an bóthar leat.
From all of us at Comhlámh