CASA taps UMass fundraiser as new executive director

Julie Bowditch, executive director of The CASA Project Worcester County

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By Katherine Hamilton

Julie Bowditch, the manager of the UMass Cancer Walk and community fundraising for UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, has been hired as executive director of The CASA Project Worcester County, the foster care support program announced Friday.

The CASA Project, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate, is a national association with local branches. It recruits, screens, and trains community volunteers who are appointed by judges to assist on cases regarding children in the foster care and juvenile court systems.

Bowditch is succeeding Robb Zarges, who ran The CASA Project for more than four years and left in July to pursue another opportunity, said board member Erin Jansky in an email. Zarges is currently the founder and president of Worcester consulting firm Kainos Coaching and Consulting, and he is an adjunct professor at Clark University in Worcester, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Bowditch will assume her executive director role on March 14.

Bowditch has been fundraising for the UMass Chan Medical School since 2012, where she grew the program extensively. Before joining UMass, she was a supervisor in a youth residential treatment program and in special education, according to Friday’s press release.

She has served on CASA’s board of directors for the past three years, and is also a board member of Women in Development of Central MA, Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester, the Young Professional Women’s Association of Worcester, the Central Massachusetts Conference for Women, and the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration. She was one of Worcester Business Journal’s 40 under Forty in 2019.

Bowditch grew up in Fitchburg and was the only biological child in a family that fostered and adopted many children.