Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Woodruff.
Hi Chris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have been with Lighthouse Family Retreat for over 13 years, serving as the CEO/Executive Director. Before joining Lighthouse, I worked in the for-profit sector in a variety of roles, including Operations, Organizational Development, and HR. In my mid-30s, I decided to pursue a goal I had set for myself: obtaining my MBA. After graduating, I decided to pursue a career path that would lead me to a leadership position within a company. Additionally, as a family, we began volunteering at Lighthouse. After serving for a couple of years and continuing to grow in my career, the Executive Director role at Lighthouse opened, and I felt God calling me to join. After much prayer and process with the board, I joined Lighthouse in March of 2012. It turned out that I would lead a company… God had a different kind of company in mind.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My journey at Lighthouse began challenging, and over the years, it has become smoother, all things considered. The biggest challenge was coming into a nonprofit with a business-minded mentality. Early on, I encountered tension with the idea of working to make Lighthouse more effective and efficient by improving systems and processes, etc. Running a nonprofit is very similar to running a for-profit business. Instead of managing the business to meet profit goals and shareholders’ needs, we are managing the organization to be a good steward of donors’ dollars and to maximize their donations for maximum impact on the families we serve. To be good stewards, we need to operate with the best people, systems, and processes.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Lighthouse Family Retreat is a faith-based nonprofit that strengthens families living through childhood cancer by providing restorative retreats and helpful resources. On the retreat side, we offer both week-long and weekend retreats – 26 in total in 2025 – and serve families from over 40 states.
What sets us apart from other organizations is our commitment to catering to the entire family. Numerous great organizations focus on children with cancer, and they do amazing work. On our retreats, we focus on each member of the family – the child on treatment, siblings, and the parents.
I am most proud of our team and how well they serve and care for our families, our volunteers, and our donors. We could not do what we do without such a great team of people who could easily work in the corporate world and make more money, but choose to work at Lighthouse.
I would love for readers to know that there are numerous easy opportunities to help – to volunteer and serve on a retreat, to participate in a service project as a family, with your church, or within your company.
What does success mean to you?
A better question for me is: what brings me joy? I love being on a retreat, and even more so being on one with my family. I get so much joy out of serving with my wife and my kids and seeing how they care and love others so well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lighthousefamilyretreat.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lighthousefr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lighthousefamilyretreat
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lighthouse-family-retreat
