August 13, 2026
By: Greater Des Moines Partnership
Greg Ebeling Takes on New Leadership Role at Many Hands
After 35 years in public education Greg Ebeling now joins Many Hands as Chief Operating Officer where he will help lead the international nonprofit serving communities in Haiti and the Bahamas. Having served as a Many Hands Board Member, Ebeling brings firsthand experience to his new role, while his former position of Pella Community School District Superintendent brings executive leadership knowledge that will help guide growth at Many Hands. Find out about how the new COO's past experiences helped develop his leadership style and equip him for his current position.
What Inspired You to Take on This Role with Many Hands?
During my time serving on the Many Hands Board, I had the privilege of taking multiple trips to Haiti and Abaco where I saw lives transformed through education, safe structure, sustainable farming practices, medical care and leadership and community development. Many Hands isn't just offering short-term relief in those communities; they are walking alongside people to create lasting, generational change. Being on the Board gave me a front-row seat to that incredible mission, and it inspired me to roll up my sleeves and take on this role full-time.
How Have Your Past Experiences Prepared You?
After 29 years as a school administrator, managing a complex organization like Many Hands feels like a natural one. My experience in education included strategic leadership and operations, people and team development, pillar alignment (education and leadership) and community and stakeholder engagement, which all taught me how to turn vision into daily, operational reality. At the end of the day, running a school district and overseeing operations for an international nonprofit requires the exact same core mindset: servant leadership, structural integrity and an unyielding commitment to human potential.
What Are Your Top Goals as COO?
As COO of Many Hands, my goals center around four priorities:
- Cultivating organization culture and spiritual growth
- Driving operational process improvement
- Driving sustainable organizational growth
- Leading for true transformation
Leadership drives the transformation I hope to see at Many Hands, which means my goal is to empower leadership, equip staff and build systems that strengthen the communities we serve through streamlined processes and a shared purpose.
What Is One Leadership lesson You'd Share With Others?
If 35 years in education and administration taught me one undeniable truth, it's this: People are at the absolute core of every organization, and an organization is only ever as good as the people developed within it.
Real organizational strength isn't built from top-down directives or complex spreadsheets — it’s built by investing in the human beings who carry out the work every single day. At Many Hands, this is what will guide growth and development in the days and months to come, and as COO, creating a culture of trust, ownership and resilience is key to building a better organization that creates change and transforms lives.
Find out more about Many Hands at wearemanyhands.org.
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