From The Blog

KICA Bids Farewell to Jane Ovenden

Four years ago in June, Jane Ovenden joined KICA as Tropical Storm Colin swirled up from Florida. It was a dramatic arrival for the new director of Finance and Administration, who has since weathered many storms (literal and metaphorical) with grace.

In early 2020, Jane made the difficult decision to leave KICA. As Jane moves back to the upstate to spend more time with her family, KICA has hired a new director of Finance and Administration,
Johnny Wallace, who comes to the association from Porter-Gaud School. (Read more on the previous page.) Jane was eminently-qualified to bring KICA’s financial management and reporting to another level. In her office, a sign reads, “I do all my own accounting stunts,” and Jane consistently lives up to that motto.

She was instrumental in moving the reserve fund to a professional money manager, where this money can work for the community prior to its use to fund the repair and replacement of community assets. She also improved financial reporting, including the audit and monthly financial reports, with the intent of providing more transparency for members.

Throughout her time at KICA, Jane has worked to improve processes and elevate KICA’s standards. In 2018-2019, she spearheaded the search for a cloud- based member database that could either integrate with KICA’s technology assortment or replace and improve various siloed service tools. Jane initiated conversations with Salesforce, the comprehensive technology platform ultimately chosen due to its exceptional service offerings, versatility and long- term adaptability. The Salesforce platform is currently being implemented and, once launched, will be a groundbreaking improvement to KICA’s ability to deliver seamless member service.

Prior to the environment we now know with COVID-19, Jane anticipated the importance of cloud functionality, overseeing the transition of the general ledger software, the budgeting software, and the telephone system away from a server-based local system and into the cloud. This change helped KICA pivot to safer remote work for many employees and ensures continued accessibility during storm events.

She is well-known as a lover of reading, often sharing her recommendations with other members of staff. Jimmy Bailey noted this, saying, “One of my favorite things about Jane is that she has a thirst for knowledge. She reads a lot, and often finds great information to share that educates, informs, and inspires.” Jane will also be particularly missed for her love of baking. She baked many of the desserts for employee birthday and work anniversary celebrations, with a deep-dish pecan pie and red velvet cake high on the list of favorites.

During the search for her replacement, Jane has continued to consult with KICA, providing her much-needed guidance during an unusual time for hiring. We’d like to offer our thanks for once again going above and beyond in her dedication to KICA, and wish her the very best in her future endeavors.