Ep. 34 | From GED to CEO with Jon York on The Hub with Michael Allen

Not every success story starts with a straight path. New Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County Jon York never earned a single credit at Richmond High School, but today he’s leading one of the most important youth organizations in Eastern Indiana. On this episode of The Hub with Michael Allen, Jon opens up about the road from Richmond Adult Education and a GED to college, leadership, and now helping shape the next generation right here in Wayne County.

Michael Allen and Jon dig into the real impact of mentorship, early work experience, and creating spaces where kids feel seen and supported. Jon shares how getting his first job at the Club at 14 changed the direction of his life, how entrepreneurship and e-commerce built his business mindset, and what he learned from launching a new facility in Bloomington and taking on leadership challenges in Rush County.

The conversation also tackles the realities facing youth programs today. They discuss post-pandemic attendance shifts, the push for “more kids, more often,” expanding programs for younger students, keeping teens engaged, and preparing students for the workforce through budgeting, career exploration, and skilled trade pathways. Jon also breaks down what it really takes to serve more than 3,000 kids annually across multiple locations and why long-term fundraising and endowment growth are critical for sustainability.

If you care about Richmond, Wayne County, youth development, workforce readiness, and the future of Eastern Indiana, this is an episode worth hearing.

The Hub is sponsored by Manpower Eastern Indiana.

Learn more at manpowereasternindiana.com

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Transcript

Welcome And Meet John York

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Behind every growing business is a team of great people. This is the Hub Podcast, sponsored by Manpower Eastern Indiana. I'm your host, Michael Allen. In each episode, we connect with the people helping build stronger companies and communities across eastern Indiana. Hello and welcome to the hub. And today's guest on the hub is John York. He is the new chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wayne County. And we, and I say we, I mean the community. We're super excited about having John back in the area leading the Boys and Girls Clubs. John, welcome to the hub. Thanks for having me, Michael. Yeah, thanks for being here. I'm I'm anxious to chronicle your journey with the Boys and Girls Club. It's it's been a good one. Uh, but before we get into that, let's kind of please share with our followers kind of about yourself growing up. You're a Richmond native, growing up here, your family, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Yeah, no, grew up here in Richmond, uh, lived here for most of my life, uh, been able to travel out and work uh in Bloomington and in Rush County since then. Um, you know, parents uh from here as well. So Richmond family in Wayne County, surrounding area, Cambridge City as well. Uh son who's 20, Jonathan, uh born on my 22nd birthday. So that's a pretty cool fact. Nice birthday present there. Um, yeah, so all that uh came up here, grew up here in Richmond, um, went to Richmond Community Schools, um, actually uh graduated from Richmond Adult Education. Um, so you know, everybody always asks you, hey, what year or did you go to Richmond? What year are you? And I'm always just answer, oh, two, um, because that's the year I should have been graduated in. But um, not every situation is uh a great situation to go through the details of uh you know my story there with education. But here's a good long format, and I can still know that.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

I'd love to hear about it if you're willing to share about it.

Leaving High School And Earning A GED

SPEAKER_01 1:57

No, so I I was someone who was a straight A student growing up all the way through eighth grade. Um, I love school, right? Um, but with home life and health problems started hitting me a little harder as I got into high school. Um, and as I got into high school, uh I only went a couple months. I never earned a credit from Richmond High School. Okay. Um, I made a path, um, I saw my path forward as uh with the option of a GED um when I I knew he had to be 17 to do that. So I went with the Richmond Adult Education when I uh the semester uh there um in 2000, fall semester. I went in there for some tutoring to get ready to take the test when I turned 17. And the next test was there in early November. I did that for a couple months, and so uh would have been my fall semester of my junior year. I got my I attained my GED, and at that same time I was enrolled at IU East due to an initiative called Take a Course on Us. Okay. And so I got to take uh one course there while I was 16. I started there.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

What course did you choose?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

W 131, English Composition with a great professor, uh Alisa Klappenier, who I was familiar with from her volunteer service at the Boys and Girls Club.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

All right.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Um so I took that course, and for somebody who hadn't been in the classroom for two years, uh that was needed to see that um education, higher education was possible for me. Uh I always had a goal as a young kid. I wanted to be the first person in my family to graduate from college. And um, you know, well, that path took a little longer than right there. It'd be great if I said I just got my, you know, I obtained my GED. I started, I enrolled in IU East, which I uh earned uh free tuition with my GED scores. IUES gave me free tuition. Uh so I enrolled as a part-time there that next semester. Uh it would have been the you know spring of uh 2001. Um, and uh I went for a few semesters. Uh life happens when you get out living on your own and you know you get rent and uh roommate can't pay rent anymore, your vehicle breaks down, and then you're show you're choosing what to do. And I chose to take, I was like, I'm gonna take one semester off from uh college. That ended up being a decade, but I ended up uh finishing and getting my bachelor's degree in business administration uh in 2016. Uh so uh long path to get there education-wise, um, but a lot of uh life experience in that path.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Yeah, but I was thinking that in your story, there's a lot of encouragement that you can provide to youth. Because I mean, we'll get into it, but you've you've spent a lot of your career in the Boys and Girls Club, and there's a lot of uh youth that you've come across, I'm sure, where they can use that kind of encouragement from your story and and the path that you took, or or just where where the kind of life took you, and uh kind of uh let them know that that they can achieve some things like that in their life as well.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yeah, you just kind of roll with life as it goes. And it it helps me really relate to a wide range of people. Um it, you know, this could be kids that I'm working with, it could be their parents, it could be the employees that I hire. And it's easy, it's saying, hey, you can do this. Um but when you can say, hey, I'm an example of being able to do this, uh uh, you can connect a lot easier, and people uh people listen a little more when you're saying, hey, I've actually done this. I'm not just telling you it's possible.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

So uh one thing I want to I have two questions I want to ask and they're conflicting. So I'm gonna ask you what we ask like 99% of our guests on the hub, as far as my association with employment with manpower. I'm we always like to ask our guests, like, what was your very first job that you remember growing up?

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Well, my first job was with the Boys and Girls Club, uh, was the Scott Boys Club at the time. I was 14 years old. I worked the games room and front desk. Okay. I'd been a longtime club member and uh volunteered, and I was like, this is something I'd really like to do. And um that was my first job was working at the club and uh just working with people in general was something that I thought was interesting. And uh I saw a career in this uh that early. I I thought this was gonna be my career. Um, and so uh a little full circle moment being back here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

So it the kids uh are um club kids that kind of stick with the program and you get into the teen age. That's I mean, that's kind of a big deal to get to to do that job, isn't it? I mean, because not every uh not everyone gets to do it, and you have to, I'm sure, show to the unit director or whoever does a hiring. At that time, it was just you said that if it's the Scott Club, which is the the club. The only club at the time. Today it's a lot different than it was when you were there as far as facilities that that that our youth enjoy in Wayne County, but I'm sure that was kind of a felt like a big deal, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

No, it was it was a heavy competition. Everybody wanted to be, you know, you want to get paid to be at the club because you wanted to be there anyway. Uh, and why not get paid? And and that was something that, you know, especially uh coming from households where there's not a lot of money around, having extra money, so I could, I mean, even the little things like walking across the street to Jay's restaurant was a big deal that I had enough money to go buy some chicken and Jojo's, right? No, that those were big things where I could go to the gas station and and buy something, or um, I could, you know, I could buy something that I wanted at the grocery store, you know. So those were little things that it started out as, or you want to buy clothes as you get older, right? You know, to save up for that because you're not buying you the, you know, back then, you know, they were like, oh, I'm not buying an$80 pair of tennis shoes. Uh, I wish they were all 80 now. But um, those are the types of things that you, you know, you wanted to work and I want to develop the skills because, like I said, I saw a career path because I saw all those people I'd you know, I'd been a part of the club for my whole life at that point, basically. And I saw people who I wanted to to be like.

Mentors Who Shaped His Leadership

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Well, you you seem you seem like a pretty young guy to me. I got about 20 years on you, but and um when I first was involved with the club, I was going to board meetings at that Scott unit. Uh when you were uh there, who who was kind of like um your mentor there? I mean, who was kind of like someone that you looked up to there at the club there back in those years?

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Uh the first person I ever looked up to was James Gordon.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, I remember James for sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Uh I mean, no, he um man, he I don't think he realized it, but he taught me the skills that I needed to be a good father because he was compassionate, he was understanding, he had patience, he listened. Um, you could in if you needed something, he was always there. And James, uh, I at first, because back then, you know, a big deal was having enough money to get something out of the pop machine. If you had a dollar, you had to get quarters because it didn't take quarters. And so James had always had a pocket full of change, and I was like, oh, he's the guy that has change. I didn't realize he did that, so the kids had to interact with him. Yeah. And so uh after I was there for a little, you know, as a kindergartner, you're thinking that or first grade, you know, you're realizing who this person is. And then I see that, and I was lucky enough uh to work with James until um he left the clubs um back, oh gosh, that'd been early 2000s. Um, but it that was he's a a mentor of mine. And then um as a teenager, Larry Stone uh really showed me what program and leadership, uh, importance of service to your community uh through our Keystone Club.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Um and then uh Bruce Daggy uh was someone who he he came to the clubs here uh in Wayne County when I was 10 years old. Uh he actually was my basketball coach uh when I was 11 uh through the club. We retired him. That was his last year coaching basketball. But um, you know, and then I learned about business from Bruce. I I've always been interested in entrepreneurship ever since about third grade when I was selling creepy crawlers and pencils to people, right? Um, I've always been interested, and so the two things I I really enjoyed the most was Boys and Girls Club and Business. And um, Bruce was able to connect those two things for me, and he's still a mentor for me today.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Yeah. Yeah, James and Larry really two legends of the club, and I remember them when they were working at the club. And James, to your point about, I mean, the guy's a legend. I mean, he's there's a mural with his picture on it at the Jefferson unit. So I mean that you got to be somebody to get a mural of your of you on the wall.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Much deserved. Uh nobody better than James to have his picture up there and his connection with kids is something that I that's how I learned to to build connections was from my interactions with James.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

So when you were going to uh working on your on that long path to get your degree from IU East, were you always working at the club in some capacity, or did you do some other jobs in between there?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

So I worked at the club. Um I said my mint my son was born on my 22nd birthday, and I was a unit director at the club. Then I became a unit director right before my 21st birthday. So I got into management pretty early there. Um, and but I wanted to make a little bit more money at that time because I wanted to provide and um for my family. I didn't want my uh son to have to be um in childcare all the time because our hours are, you know, we're working after school hours. It's kind of tough uh to raise a young family working at the club. And uh so I went into working with my stepdad who had JD's cards here in town. Um, and so I worked there for five years of and we doubled the retail space, really did online sales, um, created, you know, the highest level of power seller on eBay. So really got into just moving a lot of merchants, I mean shipping hundreds of items a day um with e-commerce. And so I was really interested. I really loved it. Like I said, I've always loved that side of entrepreneurship. It's always been a part of me. Uh, but that was, you know, I took my time away from the club to do that. And I still volunteered at the club during the summers during that time, uh, when I could. But um after about five years, I realized I missed working at the club and I had to come back.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

That was, I mean, it it probably didn't hurt you to step away and and uh do something else and get some other experience. And then sounds like that time away made you realize that going back was something that was really important to you.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Yeah, because you, I mean, I had an idea. I thought I want knew what I want to do at 14 years old. Um, but yeah, it's kind of crazy to think that you knew what you were going to do and you yeah, trying some different things and getting outside that um comfort zone because even though um the card shop where I was working at was more uh it was the family business, you know, with my stepdad, um the club felt like family business for me. I grew up in it, I knew it. It's just uh intuitive, right? I just know everything that's going on, I knew how to do it, and it was nice to get outside of there and come back. And then in my career uh with the Boys and Girls Clubs here in Wayne County, um, after I graduated, I went down to Bloomington and that was one of those where I wanted to see if I could be successful anywhere, not just where I grew up, but I knew everybody. If if my success was because I'm good at this job or because I'm good at networking.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

So go ahead and chronicle, since you hit on that, chronicle your involvement with the boys and girls clubs from from there to coming to Richmond, back to Richmond.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

So yeah, I started there in Bloomington in in 2017. I took on a new project. So when I started there, uh my club that I managed in my unit was a modified duplex in the housing authority, 2,100 square feet with the downstairs wall knocked out and upstairs wall knocked out. Um so there's a kitchen that we could serve snack for 20 kids a day, because that's about what attended the club there. Um, but the reason I took that job uh was because we were building a 21,000 square foot facility one block away in the housing authority. And I wanted to be the person to open that club, make that transition and open it. And I had not been a part of, I'd been a part here when we opened the Richard E. Jeffers unit, but I was uh, you know, I was a youth development professional. I wasn't in the planning side of things at that time. I was too young. And so I wanted the experience of opening a new building. I wanted the experience of cultivating donors. I wanted those experiences that I didn't have. And so I went there to get those experiences. And I worked in Bloomington, opened that club, and we went from serving 20 kids a day to 100 kids a day like that, you know, overnight. Um, and inside of a community um that is that close knit, uh, I had to really become a part of the community and um build relationships on a really deep level really quickly so people would trust me. Uh and that was a really I I really loved that job. Um, but it was at a time in my career where I knew I needed to take the next step in my role, which in my career, which is I took that role more of like, oh, this is what I really want to do instead of what's my next step.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

And so I did that for a year and a half. Um, and then I took took the position as the chief executive officer for the boys and girls clubs in Rush County. So I held that position from uh September of 18 through uh January of of this year. Uh and I started here uh on February 2nd.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

So and Bloomington. Bloomington and then uh in Rushville. Yep. Uh so was I mean you had you mentioned Bruce Daggy uh when you took those roles. Was there any phone calls to Bruce? And did was I mean yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if you called him just for some get some uh collaboration and just some advice on stuff.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

I mean so I called Bruce. Um so actually uh he was working with the Rush uh County Clubs here in his position of getting them ready to hire their next executive um director at the time, is what the role was called. And they'd been through a time of transition and even, I mean, and honestly, just in transparent, a time of crisis, right? They had had turn a lot of turnover, um, lack of fundraising. So I asked Bruce, is this a job I'm going to end my career? Is this gonna end my career if I take this job, or is it possible to be successful here? And he told me that there was the ability to fundraise and there was ability to uh grow the programs, but it was gonna take a lot of work. And that was magic to that was music to my ears. That's that's that's what I want to hear. I I at that time in my life, I really like it, and I always have. I love the challenge. And it was uh again another new community, a more rural community than I was used to. You know, Rushville's only about uh 6,500 people, so smaller than any any community I'd worked in before, and then especially from moving from Bloomington um in a more urban area. And so I thought that was a great way to have some professional development uh was to, you know, take on another organization where I didn't really know much about the community. I had to learn a lot about agriculture. Um, and and I learned about you know, even smaller community and build those relationships from scratch and use my board members' relationships to build my network out. And that was a great experience. And yeah, I gave Bruce a call to ask if that was gonna be if I was making a smart move, and he told me that I could be successful if I I worked at it. And uh I'm very proud of where uh we ended up with Rush County uh and where they're at right now.

Why The Mission Keeps People Here

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Yeah, no, that's that's a great story. And and uh yeah, it would have shocked me if you said you hadn't had any conversations with Brewstering at times because he's just uh his personality and just the way he deals with people, I mean he he'd be a great resource to call upon and to be honest with you and encouraging. And I'm sure we had a lot of that from him. Yeah, it's it's interesting. And you you when you were interviewing for the job here and being a board member, I mean, we had access to information about you, but one thing that you put in there and and it I think it really comes through in talking to you that your involvement with the club, it's not just a career, a job, but I I think especially you going back to your days as a teen, you know, working at the club, it's it's really been a calling for you, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yeah. It's yeah, I I've felt like this is like my purpose, right? Um I've gone through life and gained my experiences so I can best work with the young people. Uh and now I don't directly work with young people as much, but I can train our staff and give them uh share those best practices of everything that I've learned over my uh 20 plus years working in boys and girls clubs. This is my 24th year working in boys and girls clubs. It just seems uh crazy to think uh how long I've been involved. And uh it is something. It it feels it just feels right. Um when I wasn't working here, there was an emptiness, there was a hole. Um, I had to have this engagement. And um and I I love coming to work every day. I I don't think that I've had one day where I've dreaded coming to work when I've worked at the boys and girls clubs, and like I said, that's 24 years of being happy to go to work.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Well, I I think uh a lot of people probably know, I mean, our organization here locally is is very strong, very successful. But if you talk to other people within the organization, uh I think the Boys and Girls Club of Lane County is seen as a highly effective and successful club on a statewide, regional, and maybe even on the national level, and you've been to some of those meetings, and I I can't help but think that the reason for the success that we've been able to enjoy there's been multiple reasons, but I think part of it's really that we've had a lot of people in leadership here at our club that it's been their calling. You know, that if if your heart's in it that way, it it shines through in the way you deal with people and manage the organization. I mean, do you think that's fair to say?

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Yeah, no, I think we're very mission-driven from the staff to the board. Um, everybody involved is here for the right reasons, right? Um when we talk to when you're hiring employees, they're there to make an impact, right? And if they're not, they're probably not gonna be the job for them. They're not gonna, you know. Um, we try to be competitive with pay, but we're not always gonna be at the top of the market. Um, and you have to really love the job to uh some people are like, oh my gosh, how do you work with that many kids at one time? And it's like it's easy. And those are the people, right, that can do that. And the board members of, you know, how do you, you know, how have you been on the board for so long? Or how do you do all these, keep up with all these special events? And it's because it's for the kids, right? Uh the mission that we have of developing our young people is uh an easy one to get behind. And I think we have had a lot of great people, and we do have a lot of great people currently. Our team's amazing when you talk about our staff and our board, our trustees, our volunteers. Everybody uh is there to help the kids. Um, and it it you know helps us too. We get fulfillment out of that and we're happiness and we're full. And you know, that that's what fills my cup, you know, uh, is that feeling when you have that club member and you get to see them years later and they talk about how the club changed their life or saved their life. Uh, or you you talk about you hear a parent saying they get to go back to school or they had to get to they get they get to get a better job because they had the club there. Those types of things keep you going, and I and I think that's why everybody works there.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

You touched on it a little bit, but I mean when you work for a not for profit, it's not necessarily going to be in a lot of cases a very highly compensated job as it compares to the private sector. But I do feel like through their trustees, our board, executive committee at the club, there has been a lot of attention made to try to be as competitive and and generous with what how we compensate people that work at the club. Is that I think that's fair.

Growing Locations And Reaching Wayne County

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yeah, and it's a it's a priority. I shared that with uh at our all-staff meeting uh a couple weeks ago that our priority is to make sure we're raising funds so we can pay our people because we want to professionalize our profession, right? Yeah uh a lot of people think about if you want to work with kids, you have to go into like the school system or something. No, there's a lot of there's uh many options in our community where we need people who want this to be their career so we can continue to be successful and we have to make it where people can stay in this career. And so that is that is a a key priority for me is to continue to increase wages for our staff, especially our direct service staff who are day in and day out interacting with our kids. And um, you know, that's something that I've done in the past is you know, from you know, looking at your org chart, but you gotta start from the bottom up with pay uh to to build that uh successful organization.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Yeah, I mean, I pulled some numbers from our 2025 report, and uh so the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wayne County we serve more than 3,000 youth annually, and we serve about eight 1,872 youth through membership and another almost 1,200 through um community outreach through our seven facilities. Uh it takes a lot of people to do that.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Yeah, yeah. We have a staff of close to 80 right now, 39 board members, 12 trustees, uh not numerous volunteers. So uh no, it's a I mean it's it's a good sized organization.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

Do you think it's a I feel like it's a little bit uncommon for a community our size to have so many locations?

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yes, uh it it's definitely stands out. And I think that's why you mentioned earlier we're seeing as a leader in our state, in our region, in the country, because we've been able to be so successful in a smaller community. Um, you will not see this this many boys and girls clubs in the facilities we have uh in communities of our size, really anywhere else.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

And and they're still they're so strategically located. And and and we didn't well, the Jeffers unit we built, but the other units that we have, and I'm referring primarily to the McDaniel and the first bank unit within Richmond, is it those were existing facilities already, and they were but they were in neighborhoods where we can really reach a lot of youth that are so close to where our units are, and with McDaniel and um and and the first bank unit, and uh and then just our ability to reach out through our uh Wayne Bank and our Hagerstown units. I mean I think way back when we were in the Scots I mean we weren't really servicing kids out in the in the county. No, and I I know that's was a strategic plan for many, many years, but I mean it's really happening now.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Yes, and and you know, well, when I was a club kid, and even when I uh first entered our youth of the year competition, we were still the Scott Boys Club of Richmond. And I said when I was 15 years old, I wanted to be the executive director of the boys and girls clubs of Wayne County. Uh that came a year later because I knew we had we were talking about it, but we weren't serving girls, right? Um and we weren't serving Wayne County, we were serving Richmond. We had one location. Then we opened Central, which was our second location. Um, we weren't serving Wayne County yet, and we knew we could. Just because someone lives in a smaller community doesn't mean they don't need the boys and girls club. It might need it more, right? Uh because they're more likely to have to commute to work and things of that nature. And so, no, I just was out visiting Hagerstown and the Wayne Bank uh units uh last end of last week. Or actually, no, sorry, it was this week. Um, out again visiting, and you see the need, you see club kids all over Wayne County. It's great to see all these club kids. It's not just something you get because you live in Richmond or you live in town or one side of town in Richmond. Uh, because I can tell you how hard it was to get from the west side of Richmond to the south side uh to the club every day when there wasn't busing. Um, a lot of long walks or bike rides, right? Um, and a lot of people wouldn't want their kids doing that nowadays. And so having those strategic locations ensures that we can serve the most kids possible.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

I remember when Ann Pennington, I don't know if you remember that name, she called me. I mean, we were on the board and she, I think she was sir, I'm pretty sure she was surveying other board members of how they felt about becoming a boys and girls club. And I remember her calling me and and I and it when she first said it, it it to be honest, it it felt kind of foreign. I just wasn't thinking that scope because I thought, man, we you know, there's so many at-risk boys, and we I hate to lose our focus to that, but really, I mean, it it it's been such a great thing, that change has been, and um that we're just reaching all kids in that in that way, and uh and it's probably been it and having those girls has really enhanced the club tremendously. And but it's been that way for a long time now.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Yeah, 1999. Yeah, and well, and even before that, we were serving girls at the Scout Boys Club on team nights. Uh they were allowed to come on team nights only on Monday nights. So that was something that um I and I've and I think I'm I'm I'm thankful to be able to go through the history of the organization like that. I've been able to see the organization grow from you know having one or two staff in a building uh with a bunch of boys running around to adding programs to what we do now. Um it's just uh night and day, if you would have seen what it looked like when I was a club member there in the early 90s to to what it is now.

Post Pandemic Attendance And Getting Kids Back

SPEAKER_02 28:11

So we when I when I read through our report, it says we have about almost 1900 um that we serve through membership. I'm assuming that they're members. But we only average about 500 a day. Um and um I was meeting with a client yesterday, and we it seems like anytime we talk about certain things about changes, uh the pandemic always comes up. And I I don't know. I think it's just such a huge part in our nation's history, and it has such profound effects that I I think still it's just always gonna be something you look back to, but but I still so we we only we're only having about 30 percent of our membership on average. I mean, they all come at some time, but we're only we're not we're not averaging eighteen hundred, we're averaging thirty percent of that number. So um but I think a lot a lot of those the average attendance went down after the pandemic. Yes. And because we had more kids coming. Yes. And then and and then because of that, there was different things that affected people staying home. I mean I I know it's a it's a topic of conversation all the time about trying to get get the daily attendance up. I mean I mean you're not new to kind of work that you're doing, but you're you know, you've only been here a short time still. And is is that part of on your mind trying? I mean, we were probably already working on it, but is I mean, what are your thoughts about having that number up or is it important that it's up? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yeah, I I think you know, in in pre-COVID, we're serving, you know, 600 and some, like 625, I think is what we were serving there in 2019 uh per day. And uh a very simple goal of more kids more often and a lot of things that go into that, right? And and yes, it's it's something that's front of mind because we need more kids in the building because that's when we know we're making the impact. And I would I want everybody to have the opportunity to be a boys and girls club member. And I know that everybody can use the services that the boys and girls clubs provide, even if it's not on a daily basis. Sorry. Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

I power suggestion.

Career Readiness And The Trades Pipeline

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah. Um, but we have to continue to try to serve more kids. We and we have the space to serve more, even importantly right now. You know, now could we serve our whole membership on a daily basis right now? No, we don't have the facilities for that. But could we increase that membership up by 25%? Yeah, we could easy. And I think that we have some initiatives coming out, like um lowering our age uh to five-year-old kindergarten instead of requiring them to be six years old. I think that'll really be a benefit to our families. Um, you're you know, you sign up for kindergarten center for the Boys and Girls Club. I think that will help us see an increase in average daily attendance. Uh, focus on our teen programs uh and retaining our tween age kids to be as they become tween uh teens. Um a big role in that's gonna be our life and workforce readiness programs. Um, you know, teens, uh when I've I was a teen director for a long time, or when I was unit director and ran teen nights, I always said uh we needed to have friends, food, and Wi-Fi to make sure we had teens in the building. And that's been a long time. And I make sure we still have all those things. But I also think we have to be the place that's teaching them how to make money. Uh work, let's develop your job skills. Let's let's find you an opportunity to help with our community, uh, get with partners so we can teach you those skills, so we can help you get into uh jobs, you know, and like I said, the those soft skills, you know, I'm sure uh that's something uh you know you're familiar with making sure that everybody gets those skills. And it doesn't just start when they're of age of being hired, it starts at six years old. Um, you know, you're in first grade, you can be in our Indiana kids program, and we're looking at career exploration, and then that just that career exploration matures into skill development.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

Well, one of those programs that that we're involved in is WIN. Well, uh work in Work Initiative Network. And uh so um part of what they do at our office is we the kids come in and we talk to them about applying for work and what it's uh kind of, you know, since our business is staffing, uh about how you know we we place people into jobs and what they can do to apply for a job. And so um I've always enjoyed hosting them to come and and talk because I think that's where we can serve these kids because I I don't I mean it's not an indictment on their parents, but I just don't think they have to get all that information as much as they as they can. And uh and not all of our kids but uh that come to the club, but they are we always say the the the kids that we that need us the most. I forget how to say that right, but but uh that's how we can really um help them is uh help to prepare them for when they become adults and and need to find a job or that's what we hope that all of them are gonna do, go off to school, career focused, right? Yeah, get into employment, you know, uh providing for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yeah, no, and that's I think like programs like Win um are are key. We have to we have to continue to grow those programs. Um, if that's uh in numbers or what we're offering, you know, we have to keep developing that and and growing. Um anybody can use the boys and girls club because no matter who you are as a parent, you can't provide everything that we offer, no matter if you're the most affluent and you have, you're not gonna have the time. You're not gonna be able to have the resource. You can you can't you can't do that. You can't be in all those places once you can't do all those things. And so, um, but like as you mentioned, it you know, especially those for who need us most. And I like I said, I I I I'm an example of that kid, and and I'm also I believe that it only takes one generation to change the trajectory of a family, and those skills that we build can help our kids be that generation.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

The thing that I wish, and maybe you've got some advice. I I I've been a part of these at different times. We brought in uh youth to not just our office, but help to bring them into other companies and whatever. And there is a little bit of deer in the headlights thing with the kids in there, and that's I'm not sure. I you know, I I wish I could figure out a better way to get them engaged. It's not that they're not, but I just think that's like, well, I'm you know, I'm only 15 or I'm only 16 years old, and uh trying to make it relevant to them at that time is is tough. And and when you're young, you think you have so much time. And not thinking about adult things like that. I mean, what what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 35:14

Well, I think it it starts with starting younger, right? And you're thinking about that career even younger, and you're thinking about what the possibilities are, and then our programs like our money matters, like you're budgeting what it's like in high school, what it's like in college, what it's like as an adult. And you have to complete those three different budgets. Um, it starts, it makes you think about those things. It makes you think, how am I gonna provide if I have to, if I have two kids, I'm gonna have to make more money, you know, those types of things. And so I think that's a a great way to get them thinking about that earlier is just incorporate into our programming and also just being transparent with kids of what we're gonna need or what the needs are and and what they're how they can get there. Um it's one thing, showing them what they can be, let them know what that career path is. And it doesn't have to, you know, you don't have to go to a uh a four-year college or university. You can go get a skill, uh like a trade, right? You can do that and you can complete that pretty quickly. You can get a certification. We want all of our kids thinking about careers, not jobs. And that's what that that's the mindset, and that's gonna take a little bit of, you know, and I think we've been working on that for years, but it takes a long time to change everybody's mindset into uh this is what I'm gonna do for a career, and I can start looking at that when I'm a younger kid.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

Yeah, I see it all the time at Manpower. I mean, if if if these kids coming up would get into the trades, they would find themselves employed and have actually options. Yes. Have multiple companies that would want their skills. But that I wish we could really just get that out even more and more because I think there's so much opportunity there.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

And that's something that I started looking at is how can we partner with like unions to talk about their trade. Like if we're looking at, you know, pipe bitters, or we're looking at at the welders, or you know, they're becoming a plumber, whatever it may be, talking about what the career path is and how you can get there. And it always helps when we show salaries of jobs, right? Kids get interested, they see that salary and they're like, oh, this person can make this. Yes, you can make you can make a really good living doing this, and you can enjoy it. Uh and, you know, or you want to run a business where you can run one of these businesses. You don't just have to be um the one doing the physical work. You can also, you know, some companies are larger, you can be different parts of it. Uh, like we talk about, you know, a kid talks about wanting to go work at one of our factories, but they don't think about like HR or what the other aspects of that, sales, what they could do. They don't, they just think of, oh, I'm gonna go stand on the line. That's not the only opportunity. There are a lot of opportunities inside each of our employers, and we have to get them to think that way.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Uh we've talked a lot about people, and but you know, unfortunately, we need money. There's always that money part. And um, and right now, you know, to run our programs in Wayne County, it's we almost need like three million dollars. And so can you just share with our followers how we go about bringing in that money for operations and what are some of the ongoing challenges that with the with the funding that because it's just something we always have to keep our eye on. And I think it'd be good for people to understand that part of it.

SPEAKER_01 38:31

Yeah, and and to realize that we only charge$15 a year for a membership is something that, you know, we're not raising the money off of everyone who uses our services. We're raising money from the community through donations, through um a a number of entities through grants, if that's local, state, regional, national opportunities, uh, government, uh, foundations, uh, whoever that may be, we are we're making most of our money up through donations and grants. Um we look at other revenue streams that we can um utilize and come up with, but those are our that's where that's where we bring the money in. Uh and yeah, we have to raise uh about three million dollars every year to serve uh support what we uh the number of kids we're serving now. We want to serve more kids, we need to bring more money in. And so that's uh, you know, I guess that's the the main point of my job is to continue working on that, uh fundraising, uh working with our teams with grants, um, like I said, we you know, building out teams to do that. Uh one or two people can't raise the money that we need. It takes a team. Um, the board members are involved in fundraising, and and we have to do that as a collective, just like we do everything else. Um, it it takes that solid, strong team. Um, our community, the reason that we can we've grown inside this community is because the community buys in, the community supports the club. Um, without community support, we wouldn't be able to be the size that we are. We wouldn't be able to serve the number of kids that we serve. We wouldn't be that outlier when you look at communities of our size. So um through that process, you know, we're constantly, you know, looking at opportunities when it comes to grant cycles. Uh, and what all goes into a grant, you know, and and they're not the most sustainable fund, source of funds. So, uh, but they're where our big opportunities come. So you have the grant reports, you have to write it first, and you have the grant reports and uh managing those finances, and and sometimes those reimbursements don't come in or the grant doesn't come in, you know, the reimbursement grants don't come in for you know six months, nine months, and you have to float that money out there and large sums of money. Uh, so that's a lot of work. Um, also on the fundraising side, uh, more sustainable um with um individuals and businesses and foundations um because we're more likely um to not change, you know, our grants can change with administrations, um, you know, the federal, and we've uh gone through that. You know, I think the president's releasing his recommendation for a budget today and eagerly watching that. So there's a lot that goes into looking at a budget for the Boys and Girls Club that I think a lot of people wouldn't think about.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

Yeah, I mean to think that we want to keep counting on the government to sustain our organization, I think that's naive, especially when you when we have a government so much in debt as it is, it's logical to think that there's always going to be, or at least they should be, thinking about ways that they can uh be more efficient. And uh so um yeah, I think it the more that we can not rely on government funding. I mean, and I think there's been slow, I mean, we've been working on that organization, and and I think part of that's uh our own foundation.

New Ideas And A Bigger Age Range

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Yeah, yeah, we have it so yeah, and we have endowed, you know, we have an endowment. Yeah, we have an endowment, and the goal the goal is to grow that endowment, and the goal of growing that endowment is to not have a reliance on government funding. I mean, that's the end goal. If we, you know, uh Abba, that's how I would put it. I don't know if that's the official way that we put it, but that's how I feel about it is because those government opportunities, if we do what we can, if we can grow that endowment, those government opportunities become boost to the program or when we can grow and do something new or give us a couple years to start something and then build it instead of having to rely on them. And and yes, like you said, we've been working in that direction, we'll continue to work in that direction. Um, and it's it's important. Um, and not just important, it's vital that we do that because if government grant ends, we have to make those changes. And in the end, if we're losing funding, we are gonna have to not be able to serve as many kids, and that's exactly what we don't want to do.

unknown 42:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

I think it's uh I didn't really note here, it's I think it's typical that a new leader organization comes in with some fresh ideas and visions. I mean, it would it would shock me um if someone came in. Um what are some of the things that you bring in as the new you know, executive officer, the chief executive officer at the club? I mean, what are some of the things that that that are kind of on the forefront for you?

SPEAKER_01 43:04

Yeah, so I mean, yeah, two months in, I'm still kind of in my observation phase, but I've had my I've had my ideas and you know, and in going through. But I think my uh one of the big things that I want to do is just uh really improve our our quality of our like our developing our staff, right? Um and so to do that, we have to, like I talked about, increasing pay, what we want to do, but also to increase pay, you can't just add more money. You have to get creative with that. So um is it operating leaner, right? Um focusing to those people that we have that we're investing in them more instead of more positions. Um, make sure we stay in within our safety ratios and everything, but um, developing those staff members to be able to hire and promote from or promote with them within when we need to hire for a new position. Uh, something that I've been looking at and working on is something we're doing right now, um, is how to do that. Um, Also, like I mentioned the five-year-old kindergartners, um, being able to serve more demographic there, um, looking at ways can we serve older teens, you know, an idea that I haven't really discussed yet, or I think it might not be in the next year or two, but it's got to be in our future, is how can we serve those young adults as well? Um, what is there for our 19 to 24-year-olds that aren't in school, right? Uh is that is that the area that is where, you know, looking at statistics, that's where people um start to have more mental health struggles as well. They lose that detachment of high school or college. Um, and so could a place like the club be that person that they have, keep that connectedness with them as they build or get ready to start out and build a family or build a career of where they're going. Um, so those are some ideas. That's an idea, you know, just I haven't really shared that one out yet, but I that's where I'm thinking is you heard it here first. What what is uh, you know, what the club doesn't have to just be, you know, after school for school-age children, right? Or like ever I think a lot of people think of the club, oh, it's for elementary kids after school. We're much more than that. And and making sure that everybody understands that, I think, is one thing that we have to do and um just keep getting the word out. Keep getting the word out of what we do and the impact that we have. And I think our impact celebration is gonna be just um we had one, you know, this year and next year will be our second. And I think that is gonna be the event where we keep bringing back people who've been here at the club and talk about the impact it's had on their lives. Yeah. And you get to see that full full circle moment of like, I remember when that kid was, you know, the youth of the year, or when they were younger even, uh, and now get to see how they're a productive member of our community and that they um credit the club for a lot of that success. So I think just that as part of it is just being that walking billboard myself, but putting more of those billboards out there of people moving around, like identifying it's a club.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

But that encourages people in the community, like, yeah, that's that's that's an organization I want to connect with, I want to support because they can see the reality of what's taking place there and how it is changing lives and uh for the good. Is there anything else that probably you want to kick out that would be important for people our listen our followers to see or hear?

How To Join Support Or Apply

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Yeah, I I just I would if you know if you have kids or you know somebody that has kids, like if you haven't given the boys and girls clip a try, give it a try. Any of our locations, it's gonna be a great experience. Um, you know, and we just don't change the lives of the kids that we work with. It can be staff members, right? I mean, we have multiple staff members I hired as part-time staff when I worked here nine years ago that are still on our in our organization, and multiple that are on the leadership team. Like that is something that we do. We help develop people as well. And and we are an employer. And I and I think that if somebody's looking for work in the youth development space or they've ever thought about it, uh, we're a place to try it out. Like come see what we can do. And that there is a career in youth development, and we need more youth development professionals.

SPEAKER_02 47:10

I think um on our uh on our website, that's uh bgcrichmond.org, um, on the homepage, there's various links for people if they want to donate money, if they want an employment opportunity, if they're interested in volunteering. That's all there for them to connect and and get that information. So I encourage uh folks if uh you are interested to go to bgcrichmond.org and you'll be able to get that information. And I'm sure anybody can just call the club and ask the questions and they'll be directed to the right person as well.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

Yes, yes, we're always available. And yes, all those opportunities are available there uh on our website. Um and also uh follow us on social media there. Our Facebook's very active. Uh and and you can search for us, boys and girls club of clubs of Wayne County uh there and follow along. You get to see what the kids are doing on a daily basis, see the pictures of kids, uh, and also all those employment opportunities and and things like uh summer coming up.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

Well, that welcome back to the community and uh thank you for uh what uh your team and and everyone is doing to make a difference uh in Wayne County. I think the impact that you're making is so much greater than people realize. And the the way you can find out is to do what John said, or you know, check out the website, go to the social media platforms, and and you'll see it right there before your eyes. So thank you so much for coming. Uh thank you for having me on. Enjoyed it. Thanks for listening to the Hub Podcast sponsored by Manpower Eastern Indiana. If your business needs great people or you're looking for your next opportunity, contact Manpower Eastern Indiana today.