Ozark Action, Inc. has named longtime employee Lisa Vigdal as the organization’s new director of fiscal operations.
Vigdal will oversee the nonprofit’s daily fiscal operations and assist with grant applications, strategic planning and other duties. She replaces longtime Director of Fiscal Operations Lisa Roark, who retired in December 2025.
Vigdal steps into the role after starting with the organization as a temporary worker 22 years ago.
“I simply went from helping our community in one capacity to another,” Vigdal said. “It’s just a different side of the same coin: from frontline worker to being behind the scenes, helping keep the funds flowing in and out.”
Before becoming director of fiscal operations, Vigdal was manager of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. She also worked as a community services representative, helping people in the region with energy assistance bills in the summer and winter.
Despite the amount of learning ahead of her, Vigdal said she is ready for the new role.
“I love this quote: ‘We are not placed on this earth to see through each other, but to see each other through,’” Vigdal said. “I’m not sure where it came from, but it has always struck me and I try to live by it. I’m so thankful for this opportunity OAI has granted me, and I’m thankful that they believe in me.”
“OAI has a long history of effective, efficient and compliant use of public funds,” said OAI Executive Director Terry Sanders. “Under Lisa’s oversight I am confident that we will continue to be good stewards of the funds we are entrusted with.”
Ozark Action, Inc. is a nonprofit Community Action Agency serving Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Ozark, Texas and Wright counties. It was founded in 1965. The mission of OAI is to coordinate and provide services for people with needs so they can improve their quality of life.
Several programs that help low-income residents are housed under OAI, including the Community Services department, which helps with homeless outreach, utility assistance, Medicaid sign-ups and the local Salvation Army; area Head Start and Early Head Start programs; the area Workforce office; the area Weatherization program; and housing programs, including the Housing Choice Voucher program, formerly known as the Section 8 program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
OAI also administers Shelter Plus Care housing through the Missouri Department of Mental Health, VASH vouchers for homeless veterans through the Veterans Administration and HUD, and Foster Youth to Independence vouchers through HUD for foster youth exiting the system.
For more information about Ozark Action and its services, visit oaiwp.org or call 417-256-6147.
