A steward of Unbound begins a new chapter

Every day people share stories of how their lives changed because they decided to sponsor someone through Unbound. Sometimes those changes are profound. But it’s unlikely that anyone’s life changed more than Scott Wasserman’s did when he and his wife, Anabella, took on their first sponsorship in 1988.

“Anabella and I were just married and we had just moved to Kansas City,” Wasserman said. “She heard about CFCA [which would become Unbound] and asked me if we could sponsor a child in her native Guatemala. So, we did that.”

That moment might not be so memorable for the couple if it weren’t for what followed.

“I came home from working at a law firm and there was a message on our answering machine,” Wasserman said. “It was a message from Bob [Hentzen, co-founder of Unbound]. He thanked us for sponsoring the child and said that he and his wife, Cristina, wanted to invite us to his home for lunch.”

“I like to tell people we're still paying for that lunch to this day,” he said, laughing.

Three decades of memories

In July, Wasserman retired as president and CEO of Unbound after having been involved in the organization in various roles for 35 years, first as a sponsor and volunteer, then as chair of the Unbound Governing Board and, finally, as president and CEO. They were momentous years.

On Oct. 8, Emma Miller, Unbound’s chief governing officer, presented Wasserman with a memory book on behalf of the board. It had over 300 photos from his involvement over the years, as well as reminiscences of his many contributions.

“Scott was very instrumental in making sure, both in his time as chair and then as CEO, that we honored and valued the founders and their legacy,” Miller said. “Under his leadership, the organization evolved in a way that honored that legacy while continuing to innovate.”

From co-walker to board chair

Scott Wasserman was born in St. Louis in 1960. His family moved to Kansas City when he was 7. After high school, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a law degree from Harvard.

Scott met Anabella through a mutual friend and was so taken with her that he studied Spanish as a way to keep in touch. In the end, he gained both a second language and a wife. The couple now has three grown daughters and one grandchild.

When the Wassermans began as sponsors in 1988 Unbound was seven years old and hadn’t yet hit its stride. Sponsorships were few and far between and each new one was celebrated by the handful of staff at the Kansas City headquarters.

In the early years of their involvement, the Wassermans became friends with Bob Hentzen and the other founders. When Bob set out on his celebrated first solidarity walk, which started from Kansas City to his new home in Guatemala, Scott walked with him for the first leg.

“After Bob had moved to San Lucas, my family went to visit him in December of 1996,” Wasserman said. … “He said, ‘Scott, mi co-caminante, my co-walker!’ I said, ‘Bob, I walked with you 12 miles on your first day. … You walked 4,000 miles over nine months. I'm not your co-walker.’ And he said to me, ‘Scott, you walked with me 12 miles on my first day. You're my co-walker.’

“That indicated to me how he valued the participation and the potential of every person, no matter the extent.”

In 1998, Scott became chair of the Unbound Governing Board. Under his leadership, the board adopted a model of governance that allowed staff the freedom to act within certain executive limitations. He also established a culture of openness at board meetings and invited the participation of staff and the wider Unbound community.

Perhaps Wasserman’s most significant contribution as board chair was guiding the formal expression of Unbound’s core values, four foundational principles that had been implicit in the organization from the beginning: the Gospel call to serve the poor, integrity and accountability, the God-given dignity of every human being and maintaining respectful relationships with all people.

Discovering a new vocation

The preservation of the core values was important to Wasserman, especially after the unexpected death of Bob Hentzen in 2013. Hentzen was not only the president of the organization but the last of its founders, and his passing represented a watershed moment in the life of Unbound.

Though he hadn’t previously considered making the transition from board chair to staff, Wasserman began to think of applying for the position of president-CEO. Out to dinner with Anabella, he told her he was considering leaving his successful child advocacy law practice to work for Unbound. She asked him why.

“I said, ‘As I think about the course of these past 30 years, I feel like I've been prepared for this without my being aware of it with all I was learning from Bob and the other founders,” Wasserman said. “Now that I look back at it, it looks to me like it was formation.’

“Anabella is very wise, and she replied, ‘So you feel this is a vocation? This is your calling?’ And I said to her, ‘Yes, that's a good way to put it.’”

The board agreed and, in late 2013, Wasserman became president and CEO of Unbound.

Preservation and innovation

In the 10 years of Wasserman’s leadership as president and CEO, Unbound went through significant change. Chief Financial Officer Martin Kraus believes Wasserman’s guidance was key during that time.

“When Scott started his role as CEO, the organization was still going through the grief of losing Bob Hentzen,” Kraus said. “Scott provided a stabilizing presence then and during other times of transformation and uncertainty, like when the organization was rapidly growing and had considerable turnover in board membership.”

Much of the change had to do with updating various business aspects of the organization like human resources, technology and marketing techniques. But the most significant changes involved the ongoing evolution of the Unbound program in the field — an evolution that from the earliest days has been based on listening to and learning from the families in the program.

Among the innovations that took place under Wasserman’s leadership were the direct electronic fund transfers into the bank or mobile accounts of sponsored persons, digital communication between sponsors and their sponsored friends, and the Agents of Change platform that allows sponsors to fund community improvement projects led by local Unbound communities.

Recently, Unbound also established a partnership with Dr. Martin Burt to pilot his Poverty Stoplight methodology in local Unbound programs around the world. Poverty Stoplight is a self-assessment model that helps families form personalized plans for rising out of poverty.

Wasserman’s tenure also included the unexpected challenge of steering Unbound through COVID-19.

“I started speaking to our Kansas team and to our international teams admitting that there was a tremendous amount of uncertainty … but assuring people that those same core values that we have right now going into this pandemic, they will still be our core values when we come out of it,” Wasserman said.

No second thoughts

Wasserman leaves Unbound in good hands, having been instrumental in bringing in several new leaders for the organization and giving veterans new responsibilities.

“One of the things Scott has done is he's brought in a lot of really strong talent,” Miller said. “If you look around, the leadership here is amazing and a lot of that is from Scott. He was able to find people who are leaders in Kansas City and bring them into the Unbound community and bring some of that thinking here.”

One key leader is Ashley Hufft, who joined Unbound in 2022 as chief strategy officer and general counsel and was appointed interim president-CEO upon Wasserman’s retirement. With a strong background in international human development and the creation of sustainable solutions for extreme poverty, she adds valuable perspective to Unbound’s already strong leadership team.

The strength of that leadership allows Wasserman to feel confident as he begins his retirement. And while he’s still committed to serving the organization in his role as CEO emeritus, he’s embracing his new chapter of life with no regrets.

“I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying this because I love Unbound,” he said. “I thought that I would have more of a grieving period with the transition, but it hasn't happened. I just immediately started loving this from the first day.”

In retirement, Wasserman is enjoying spending more time in prayer. He also thinks about such things as teaching at a university as an adjunct professor and pro bono legal representation of unaccompanied migrant children. But whatever he does, it will have to wait because of a promise he made to his daughters.

“Their advice to me, which I think was very wise, was, ‘All of that sounds good, Dad, but don’t do any of it this year. Take the rest of 2023 off and use it for yourself,’ Wasserman said.”

As Unbound begins its next chapter under new leadership, Kraus expressed a sentiment shared by many on Wasserman’s legacy with the organization.

“Over a span of 35 years, Scott answered the call to serve Unbound in many ways, from sponsor and volunteer to board chairperson and CEO,” he said. “In whatever capacity Unbound needed him, Scott was willing to serve with all his heart and energy. I’m grateful for his many contributions for the benefit of all the families in the program.”

Chief International Program Officer Dan Pearson spent considerable time with Wasserman both in Kansas City and in the field. Pearson sees a consistency of character reflected in the various roles Wasserman has taken on over the years.

"Scott spent his career seeking to create a world where children can thrive," he said. "His work as an attorney focused on child protection, and his service as CEO and president of Unbound focused on creating the circumstances where children can realize their full potential. I traveled with Scott many times to Unbound [program] locations. Every time Scott interacted with sponsored families, they knew he was on their side.

"They knew without a doubt that all Scott wanted was their success."