resource
Update
event
FAI 2024
NEWS
Partner
Region
A Tribute to Beth Hatch, FAI’s Volunteer Coordinator
August 26, 2024
resource
Update
event
FAI 2024
NEWS
Partner
Region
We are heartbroken to announce that Folk Alliance lost a dear friend and important member of our community, Beth Hatch, after a battle with cancer. Beth was a beloved member of our conference team for over a decade and will be remembered for her compassion, composure under pressure, and her ability to solve problems with joy and kindness.
Beth never actually applied for a job at Folk Alliance but was nonetheless hired on the spot in 2013 as FAI’s Volunteer Coordinator.
She built the volunteer operation from the ground up and made the role her own. She served as volunteer coordinator from 2014 to 2024, producing events in Kansas City, Montreal, and New Orleans. She turned a fly-by-night volunteer operation into a professional and well-respected one.
Beth was always known as an incredibly competent team member and a volunteer coordinator who could be relied upon to find solutions to all kinds of problems. She was a breath of fresh air, even in–or especially in–pressure situations. She never placed blame and never matched anger with anger.
She was constantly cheerful–that’s one word to describe her. Beth imbued those working with her with a sense of all-for-one togetherness. She had a great ability to really listen and make the people around her feel heard: a humble, respectful style of leadership that is most effective.
Beth’s compassionate nature will continue to serve as a model for the way FAI seeks to operate in the world and as an example of the way to conduct ourselves as we go about our lives. We hope to lead with compassion and cheerfulness and live up to Beth’s legacy. After all, we are in a human business; it’s right there in the name: folk.
