Michael T. Brown
Michael has served the local community through the Y Movement for over 21 years. His career began in 2001 as a Program Director with the Canton Area YMCA (OH) where he would also serve as Executive Director. In 2013, Mike accepted the position as CEO & Executive Director of the Danville Family YMCA (IL). Three years later, Brown returned to his hometown of Canton to serve as the primary caregiver for his mother and serve as executive director of the Eric Snow Family YMCA for five (5) years. In 2021, he was promoted to the position of Director of Community Development for the YMCA of Central Stark County and is responsible for strategic partnerships, outreach program development and grant writing.
Craig Greenlee
Craig serves as Strategic Consultant for the Ohio Alliance of YMCAs. He has over three decades of YMCA service starting as a program director and serving multiple positions including CEO. His career has taken him from the Midwest to the East Coast and back to the Midwest. He currently provides direct service to 24 corporate Ys in Central and Southern Ohio.
Erin Jones Roth
Erin currently serves at the President/CEO at the Telford Community Center YMCA in Richmond, Kentucky. Before coming to Richmond, Erin worked at the YMCA of Central Kentucky for twelve years and held various roles while there. Erin currently serves as the President for the Junior League of Lexington. Erin is very passionate about helping all ages become healthy, bettering the community and helping others reach their potential.
Chris King
Chris joined the Richard G. Snyder YMCA team in November, 2019. Chris previously served as District Executive Director for the Detroit Metropolitan YMCA, responsible for the operation of three branches in the Detroit suburbs for 10 years.
Prior to joining the Y in 2010, Chris enjoyed 25 years in the area of large multipurpose fitness and hospital-based wellness centers. As Vice President and Regional Manager with WellBridge, Chris was responsible for the development and start-up of facilities in St. Louis and the plans for Indianapolis, IN and Houston, TX. While in Denver, Colorado Chris was responsible for the operation on the 180,000 square foot Colorado Athletic Club Inverness. During his time in Denver, Chris was awarded the National Executive of the Year award by Club Sports International/WellBridge.Prior to joining the Y in 2010, Chris enjoyed 25 years in the area of large multipurpose fitness and hospital-based wellness centers. As Vice President and Regional Manager with WellBridge, Chris was responsible for the development and start-up of facilities in St. Louis and the plans for Indianapolis, IN and Houston, TX. While in Denver, Colorado Chris was responsible for the operation on the 180,000 square foot Colorado Athletic Club Inverness. During his time in Denver, Chris was awarded the National Executive of the Year award by Club Sports International/WellBridge.
Trish Kitchell
Trish has worked for the YMCA and on behalf of children for 29 years in various capacities for the organization. She has led many youth strategies for the YMCA which includes camp, afterschool, early learning and teen programs. Trish is currently serving as the vice president of youth and program development for the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati and leads the organizations youth and program development strategies.
Bonnie McDowell
Bonnie has been with the Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA full time for 28 years. She has served as CEO for the past 15 years. Bonnie’s Y career began with the GSV Y completing her college internship with this Y and also worked one summer as a playground leader when the Sunbury YMCA led recreational programming for youth all summer long.
Bonnie is a Member and Past President of the Milton Rotary Club. She has been involved on a variety of boards and committees including: YMCA of the USA Small to Mid-Size Cabinet, Himmel’s Church, Central PA Chamber of Commerce, Sunbury Revitalization, Inc., GSV United Way, and American Red Cross.
Adam Shilling
Adam currently serves as the CEO of the Buckeye Valley Family YMCA. Prior to his role as CEO, Adam led YMCA operations in Grand Rapids Michigan. He also worked at YMCA of the USA, where he was responsible for measuring the impact that YMCAs had in communities and developing a mixed-methods approach to needs assessments.
His career with the YMCA started in Pittsburgh, PA, where he was born and raised.
Ken Soliday
Ken has served Ys throughout Maryland and Pennsylvania for the last 27 years. Having served in leadership roles in communities in rural, suburban and rural areas, his experiences help to shape his current work as the Director of Services for the PA Alliance of YMCAs. Prior to this role, Ken served at the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh in VP and Executive roles for 15 years.
His first job at the Y as a tennis pro still influences today’s work. At the root of what we do at the Y, we are here to steward our resources to give people opportunities that they may never have had. Almost 30 years ago that was the revelation during Ken’s first weeks at the Y. Giving kids the chance to learn a sport that can last a lifetime has been a great reminder of Y service to all communities today.
Sarah Bolyard
Sarah began her career with the YMCA of Kanawha Valley in August 2020 where she serves as the President and CEO. The YMCA of Kanawha Valley is comprised of the Charleston Family Y and the Cross Lanes YMCA Child Development Center with $4.5 million in annual revenue. Prior to the Y, Sarah served as the WV Executive Director for the American Heart Association for 8 years. Before then, she held various roles in pharmaceutical sales. Sarah resides in Charleston with her husband Brian, and their young son Willie.
Chris Francis
Chris Francis is the CEO of the KY/WV State Alliance of YMCAs where he works with the CEOs and Boards of 25 YMCAs across both states. The alliance concentrates on the areas of public policy, finance, capital planning, strategic planning, executive transitions, and collaborations. Chris has over 20 years of experience working for the Y. His passion for this organization dates back to grade school where he participated in camp and youth sports. Since starting employment with the Y in early high school, he set out to make the mission of the YMCA his life’s work. Chris started his career by serving in the US NAVY and during that time was selected for an ROTC scholarship. Prior to his current position, Chris was the COO of the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati. His first CEO role was with the YMCA of the Northwoods in Rhinelander, WI over 15 years ago. He then served as President and CEO of the Duluth area Family YMCA.
Jarrett Royster
Jarrett Royster’s YMCA career spans decades of dedicated community service.
In 2015, Jarrett joined the YMCA of Greater Boston, accepting the role of Senior Vice President of Operations. In 2020, Jarrett was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. His achievements include successfully guiding the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, leading efforts to recover membership, fostering the creation of new health products and a virtual studio, and refining how the Y tells its story to build greater brand awareness and equity.
Prior to his role in Boston, Jarrett held the position of National Director for Urban & Educational Development at YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for the nation’s 2,686 YMCAs, which serve nearly 21 million people each year, including 9.4 million children under the age of 18.
As National Director, Jarrett led the YMCA’s strategic direction to better meet the needs of some of the nation’s more distressed urban communities. He also worked with others to create access and opportunities for youth to succeed in their educational pursuits. Jarrett has an extensive background in Youth Development.
Throughout his tenure at Y-USA, he played a significant role in developing and scaling programs that addressed the achievement gap, developed a Youth Development Competency Model, and created new trainings to build the capacity of local Y staff to deliver on our Y-USA’s commitment to youth development.
Bette J. Francis
Bette Francis is a senior professional in human resources with 25+ years’ experience developing talent and improving productivity in rapidly growing organizations. Francis has designed the human resources services in a global medical device manufacturing, in a rapidly-expanding healthcare management consulting organization with a primary focus on merger and acquisition, nutracuetical ingredients and in a global telecommunications organization name to the INC 500 of fastest growing private companies. Just prior to joining the YMCA of Delaware Francis served a Vice President/Director, Human Resources, with Wilmington Trust, Wealth Advisory Services, a subsidiary of M&T Bank.
In addition to senior HR roles, Francis has held executive leadership roles within the businesses including technical services, customer service, compliance, ethics and administrative operations. Strategic contributions include developing, implement and communicating the balanced scorecard in three organizations that included developing the corporate strategy map, mission and values, culture, organizational development and customer excellence.
Francis is a graduate of Thomas Edison College and an active member of SHRM since 1990. Francis has held adjunct faculty positions at Bergen Community College and New York University’s Marketing and Management Institute and has been a guest lecturer to the Stevens’ School of Management Technology and Fordham University’s School of International Business Management. Francis has also facilitated HR Fundamentals and the HR Learning System at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey.
Francis has served as a member and as Chair, SHRM Board of Directors and remains active in the organization as a volunteer leader. She is a member of the Advisory Board, Thomas Edison College School of Business. Francis is also a former member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).