Hobert Flynn, Marchant to serve as interim leaders of Common Cause

Hobert Flynn, Marchant to serve as interim leaders of Common Cause

Karen Hobert Flynn, Common Cause’s senior vice president for strategy and programs, and Bette Marchant, the organization’s chief financial officer and senior vice president for operations, will serve as co-leaders of Common Cause until the next president is chosen, the organization announced.

Hobert Flynn and Marchant take the reins of Common Cause in the wake of the sudden death April 23 of Common Cause President Bob Edgar. A search committee, comprised of Common Cause National Governing Board members, is leading efforts to find a new president. “The Common Cause board is deeply appreciative of Karen’s and Bette’s willingness to step up during this period; we have full confidence in them and we remain fully committed to supporting Common Cause and its critically important mission” said Board Chair Robert Reich.

Marchant and Hobert Flynn were both part of Common Cause’s senior leadership team during Edgar’s tenure. Marchant oversaw finance, human resources, network administration, data management, membership services, and internal operations. She came to Common Cause with nearly three decades of non-profit and small business management experience.

Hobert Flynn has been involved with Common Cause for 25 years, as a member of the national staff, a volunteer leader and a state executive director. Under her leadership of Connecticut Common Cause (1996-2007), Common Cause passed a number of reforms, including a sweeping gift and meal ban, a soft money ban, a phony issue ad law, and many campaign finance and ethics laws. Karen served as Executive Director for six years and became Chair of CC/CT in 2005. She was a key leader and strategist of the campaign that passed the strongest public financing and pay-to-play measure in the country in 2005.