Epilepsy Foundation Alabama director promoted amid national downsizing

Hoover resident Sara Franklin, who has served as executive director of the Alabama chapter of the national Epilepsy Foundation since September 2019, has been named the executive director of community engagement for Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The expanded role comes in the wake of five or six rounds of layoffs by the national organization, Franklin said.

“Nonprofit organizations are being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic because of the cancellation of so many events,” Franklin said. “It’s hard to raise money virtually.”

Last year, the Epilepsy Foundation had more than 60 employees spread across the country, and now that number has dropped to 15 employees, Franklin said.

Despite troubles nationally, Franklin and the Epilepsy Foundation Alabama group had a successful 2020. From July 2019 through June 2020 (the end of the group’s fiscal year), the Alabama chapter had a goal of raising $240,000 but actually raised more than $263,000, Franklin said.

The group’s annual Walk to End Epilepsy raised about $68,000 in 2019. Because of the pandemic, the event was turned into a virtual walk for 2020, with people walking on their own or in small groups instead of a large crowd. Organizers didn’t expect the 2020 walk to be as successful with the virtual format and set a goal of raising $50,000, but the 2020 walk, held in November, ended up raising a record $93,000, Franklin said.

The other employee of Epilepsy Foundation Alabama, Ballard Jones, was also retained in the national downsizing and was promoted to community operations manager for the central part of the country.

The Epilepsy Foundation Alabama group recently downsized its office space to save money but remained in the same office building at 3100 Lorna Road. For more information about the group, go to epilepsyalabama.org.