With Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center CEO Lynn Davis’ retirement coming up in January, the announcement of his successor has just been made. After a nationwide search, they found Lynn’s replacement right in North Texas!
It’s Irish Burch, who has 27 years of experience working on behalf of child abuse victims.
According to DCAC Board Chair Scott Breitkreutz, “Irish’s magnetic, caring spirit, alignment with our values, proven work ethic and her overwhelming passion for abused children is a tremendous benefit for DCAC and the thousands of children we serve each year. Irish brings a wealth of experience to her new role, having served most of her career within the children’s advocacy center network. Her previous experience here at DCAC as Chief Partner Relations Officer, and the existing relationships she has with staff, partner agencies and donors, make her an ideal choice as our new CEO.”
And what experience Irish has. After serving as an investigator with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, she joined DCAC in 2003 as a forensic interviewer, when DCAC was still located in an old house in East Dallas. Over the years her responsibilities grew, including assuming the role of overseeing the interview program and then becoming Chief Partner Relations Officer. There, “she worked tirelessly to build strong, positive and collaborative relationships with agencies throughout Dallas County.”
But in 2017 she left Dallas to join Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas in Austin. She applied her expertise there with CAC multidisciplinary teams across the state and then joined the Alliance for Children’s executive team.
Irish describes her new position this way: “It is a dream come true to return to DCAC as the president and CEO. I remain committed to ensuring that every child and family in need of our services receives them. To accomplish this, we will continue to work collaboratively with our partners and community members while providing national leadership and training on child abuse matters.”
The transition of Lynn’s ending his 16-year role in leading DCAC to Irish’s taking over will occur in mid-January.
* Graphic/photo provided by Dallas Children's Advocacy Center