Hughes, a North Carolina native, starts his new job with the Red Cross organization Nov. 26.
John R. Hughes
Hughes on Nov. 26 will become regional executive of the American Red Cross, Heart of Carolina region in Greensboro.
Hughes, who lives in Bethlehem, is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has worked in the Lehigh Valley 15 years, most recently heading the Northeast Pennsylvania division of the Red Cross.
“All healthy organizations need a change in leadership from time to time to bring fresh ideas and generate new growth. I have spent half of my Red Cross career right here in the Lehigh Valley and this is probably the hardest announcement I’ve ever had to make to our staff and volunteers,” Hughes said in a statement today.
The Red Cross said a search committee will be formed to find a successor and an interim leader will also be named during the search. The disaster relief and emergency response organization did not declare a timeline for a permanent replacement.
“Like most of us, this change is bittersweet,” regional Red Cross chairman Bill Coles wrote in an email to board members. “John is a directionally clear leader who has made the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley a model organization … His selection to lead the Heart of the Carolina Region is a dream fulfilled for him and his family. Our loss will be their gain.”
The Northeast Pennsylvania division of the Red Cross that Hughes leads consists of 13 chapters overseeing 16 counties. That includes the Lehigh Valley chapter based in Bethlehem.
Hughes has served as chief executive with the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley since 1997. In 2008 his role expanded as regional executive of a six-county region in east central Pennsylvania. This year he assumed leadership of the newly formed Northeast Pennsylvania region.