More than 40 years ago, Oswego County Opportunities welcomed an individual whose dedication to helping others succeed and OCO’s mission was evident from day one.
When Diane Cooper-Currier moved to the area to begin her career at OCO it was difficult to find housing. Undeterred, she chose to stay in a tent at a nearby campground until an apartment became available to rent. An impressive story that demonstrates the extraordinary commitment of an individual that started as a front–line employee who earned her way to become executive director.
She joined the staff of OCO in 1984 as the agency’s Girls Group Home supervisor and has dedicated her life’s work to helping improve the lives of others by helping them succeed and see their full potential.
As supervisor of OCO’s Girls Group Home, she oversaw a group home for youth in foster care. Working directly with youth at the house, she helped them see hope and let them know that they are resilient and able to survive situations.
“We believed that we were there to do good and helping these young adults thrive,” she said.
With her passion for helping young adults, she became a member of a group that was looking at issues with runaway and homeless youth in Oswego County. That led to OCO taking on several Vista volunteers, who under her supervision conducted a research project to document incidents of runway and homeless youth in the county. That led to her writing grants that would help OCO receive its first runaway and homeless youth funding.
With the expansion of youth programming all services were brought together under one umbrella and OCO established the Youth Services Division, naming Cooper-Currier as director.
In 1998 she took a leave of absence to advance her career and earned a master’s degree in social work from Syracuse University in 2000. Upon returning to OCO, she served as the agency’s training and development performance coordinator.
“I developed a real interest in organizational systems. Working with families I strove to create an organizational system that would improve the living environment for everyone in the family,” she said. “As training and development coordinator, I used similar adult learning principles to train staff and improve the systems and procedures that were in place. It was rewarding to know that this work was moving the agency forward and helping staff thrive.”
In 2002, OCO’s executive director Jan Resnick, named Cooper-Currier as OCO’s deputy executive director. It was a position that allowed to her to demonstrate her abilities as a leader.
“Diane’s management style was inclusive, supportive and authentic,” recalled former OCO executive director Joe Roszak. “She was a consummate developer of community services. Diane was quick to reach out to internal staff as well as community partners and potential partners to further OCO’s mission to meet the needs of our community.”
As deputy executive director, she would oversee all of OCO’s program departments, including Education, Emergency Services, Health, Nutrition, Residential, Transportation, SAF and Youth Services. She worked closely with the directors of each service department regarding programming and strategic planning, as well as assessing how the system worked and analyzing the structure of how OCO was delivering services.
“Although we were under one umbrella the programs operated separately, like their own mini agencies. I focused on unsiloing OCO and envisioned a shared model of service delivery, working towards a single data base for the agency so that information could be contained and shared amongst programs,” she said. “By improving communication and collaboration throughout the agency we were able to streamline the way we were delivering services.”
“Diane provided the leadership to overhaul OCO’s agency wide access processes and qualification criteria,” recalled Roszak. “Due to the size and diversity of OCO and subsequent different funding resources and reporting criteria, OCO was a highly complex organization. It was difficult for community members to navigate services across service divisions. In addition, we did not have a centralized data base or a uniform application form to provide access to all available OCO services. Diane put her leadership skills up front and led the agency forward by successfully completing this extremely complicated project that involved all the agency services, and required the coordination of staff from across the agency. I truly marvel at Diane’s leadership skills that brought forth this significant and outstanding accomplishment!”
Following Roszak’s departure, Cooper-Currier was named executive director in December of 2007.
For the past 18 years she has overseen a time of unprecedented growth as well as challenges that no one could ever have imagined. Education services, which were primarily Head Start and Day Care, now offered afterschool programming and adult learning. She also led the development of OCO’s Backstreet Bookstore and Coffee Shop, which provided training grounds for community members to gain experience in retail services and other skills development to assist in a step up and out of poverty.
But perhaps the most notable expansion OCO has undergone under her is the programming it provides through its Homeless Services Programs. Homeless services that were primarily focused on youth now serve individuals, families, and young adults. OCO’s Residential Services for populations such as adults with mental health issues expanded and the agency moved into building and providing affordable and workforce housing.
“As we are delivering our services we would repeatedly hear from our consumers about the lack of affordable housing. Many of the clients we serve are working at low paying jobs and are forced to decide between putting food on the table or paying rent, going to the doctor or paying the rent, and so on. Sadly, the lack of affordable housing often leads to homelessness. It was heartbreaking. We felt that we needed to address this issue and began exploring projects that could be built in our county,” she said.
With the full support of OCO’s board of directors, she set out to find funding and a developer so that OCO could make its vision of providing housing to vulnerable people a reality. Under Diane’s leadership OCO became one of the first agencies in New York to couple funding from a variety of state agencies and partner with developers to make a mixed housing property available for working families and housing vulnerable individuals and families. These efforts led to the opening of Champlain Commons in Oswego. OCO partnered with another developer and provides supportive housing, a Senior Dining and Activity Center and a Family Welcome Center at Selkirk Landing in Pulaski.
During Cooper-Currier’s tenure OCO also built and developed a number of residential homes for its programs that provide services for individuals that are developmentally disabled, dealing with substance abuse disorder or behavioral health issues. The agency also established a shelter for runway and homeless youth.
“None of these projects would have been possible if not for the dedication of OCO’s board of directors. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some tremendous board members over the years,” she said. They serve because they truly care about our mission and are focused on serving and taking care of individuals and families that are vulnerable in this community.
“My relationship with our board members is an extremely trusting one. They appoint me to manage the day to day operations and are very open to my ideas. I keep them informed about developments and happenings in our community, as well as the risks, challenges, and opportunities that they need to know about. It’s an important relationship and I’m thankful that they have always been very supportive.”
“Diane is a remarkable executive director,” said current OCO board president John Zanewych. “Her heartfelt concern for those the agency serves captures the nature of our mission of empowering people and changing lives. Her leadership skills and ability to inspire is evident by the number of long-time employees we have at OCO. With over 40 years of experience Diane leaves a legacy that will be difficult to replace.”
One of the most daunting challenges she faced as executive director began five years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic came into full force.
“It was a very heavy time. We established an incident command team and met weekly to deal with the myriad challenges and issues that seemed to pop-up almost daily. It was a huge team effort to overcome the obstacles before us. It was a tremendous task to provide the food and necessities to keep our homebound clients safe and healthy,” she said. “Thanks to the hard work of our entire staff we were able to successfully navigate our way through the pandemic.”
While OCO has grown and prospered under her leadership, Cooper-Currier is quick to acknowledge her many accomplishments would not be possible if not for the many talented and devoted individuals she has had the pleasure to work with throughout her time at OCO.
“It’s not so much what I did, but what we did. From the time I began my career at OCO to now, one aspect of the agency has been constant…an outstanding staff that is unequivocally devoted to the work they do and care deeply for the clients we serve. Employees at all levels do their best and work together to fulfill our mission of inspiring partnerships and provide services that empower people, support communities and change lives,” she said.
Past board president Connie Cosemento, a board member for the past 20 years, cites Cooper-Currier’s positive attitude, calm demeanor and communication skills as reasons for her success.
“The challenges that come with overseeing more than 50 programs and 550 employees are many, but Diane handles them like a star,” said Cosemento. “Her ability to communicate with board members and keep us up to date is wonderful. Diane is a great listener and educates us on each of the programs. Her dedication to her staff and the clients we serve is inspiring. One reason I remained a board member for so long is that I continue to learn from Diane every day.”
Roszak echoed those sentiments. “Diane is as strategic, intelligent, and insightful, as she is kind, generous, and trustworthy; a rare combination that made her exceedingly valuable to OCO. Diane truly puts the ‘unity’ in community and I was fortunate to work with her!”
Looking back at her time at OCO Cooper-Currier said the most rewarding aspect of her career is knowing that OCO is making a difference and she contributed to that.
“When I came to OCO, I wasn’t sure I would be here long. I thought it would be a temporary stopping point as my career moved forward. But what I found was an agency that matched my personal mission. The more I worked here I realized that OCO’s mission was my mission; doing good, helping people change their lives and giving them hope,” she said. “No one wants to be poor; no one wants to be homeless; no one wants to be sexually abused or beaten by their partner. Everybody deserves better. Sometimes they need help to overcome a hurdle to get to a better place. Here at OCO we are doing that.”
With retirement fast approaching, she is looking forward to not only traveling and spending time with family, but also devoting more time to her passion for gardening.
“I love putting on my baseball cap and working in my gardens! They need a lot of attention and I enjoy every minute of working in them,” she said. “I also intend to remain, at some level, in the work world. Whether it’s as a leadership and development consultant or a volunteer, I’ll find my new avocation and continue, at my own pace, to contribute to the community.
“My time at OCO has been very rewarding. Over the years I’ve enjoyed working with so many wonderful staff and board members and collaborating with community leaders. I cherish the many friendships that were formed. It’s hard to step away, but I leave with many fond memories of my time here at OCO.”
