The board of directors of the Duluth Area Family YMCA announced the appointment of Sara Cole as the new chief executive officer. Cole exemplifies the values of the YMCA, and has a great passion for the Y’s mission-based programming.
Announcing Cole’s appointment, Duluth Area Family YMCA board of directors chair, Andy Wheeler, said the YMCA board undertook an extensive national search to ensure a suitable candidate was found. “We were looking for a dynamic leader who would be able to work with our strong staff and build on the community partnerships that are so critical to our Y. We are confident that Sara will put her talents and expertise to work to make both our YMCA and this community a better place,” said Wheeler.
Cole has worked for YMCAs in both Cincinnati and Rochester, N.Y. Most recently she was the senior vice president of program development and innovation at the YMCA of Greater Rochester, where she worked with a team of creative youth and community development change agents to provide a spectrum of high-quality programing to serve thousands of youth and families in the region each day. Cole developed and deployed collaborative strategies which led to increased YMCA capacity and new programming pathways with community agencies, and her grant-writing results led to more than $15 million in funding for program innovation over the past five years.
Cole will officially begin her role at the Duluth Area Family YMCA on November 1, 2017. An official welcoming event for the public will take place in early November with details to be announced soon.
The Cook County Community YMCA is a branch of the Duluth YMCA.
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