Shaking Up One of the Nation’s Oldest Charities

EXIT INTERVIEW

When Kenneth L. Gladish began his tenure as chief executive officer at the YMCA of the USA in February 2000, he made it clear that

he did not plan to stay in the post for the remainder of his career. At the time, Mr. Gladish was 47, and although he had spent much of his life volunteering at YMCA branches across the country, he had built his nonprofit career at other organizations.

The decision to run one of the nation’s largest nonprofit federations was simply a significant stop on a longer journey. Mr. Gladish entered the job knowing that once he felt he had accomplished what he was hired to do — namely creating a new structure for organizing and delivering services through the YMCA’s diverse array of community-based centers — he would move on.

“They brought me in to be a change agent for the YMCA and the movement,” says Mr. Gladish, whose official term expired in February, but who is staying until next month to help ease the transition to a new leader. “Both my admirers and my opponents would agree that I have done that.”

During his six years as the Chicago charity’s leader, Mr. Gladish has managed an aggressive strategic plan that led to the creation of a new constitution to govern the organization, sliced the size of the charity’s board of directors from 50 to 25, and made influencing national public-policy debates on charitable regulation and taxation a vital part of the Y’s mission.

During that same time, YMCA centers across the country have increased the number of members from about 17 million to an expected 20 million by the middle of 2006, and the organization has seen its income rise from less than $4-billion in 2000 to nearly $5-billion this year.

But rather than stay at the organization, Mr. Gladish believes now is an appropriate time to move on, since the YMCA of the USA is about to conclude the six-year strategic plan that has coincided with his tenure. He has not decided what to do next, but he hopes to land a position either with another nonprofit organization or in academe.

“This was both the most exhilarating and most challenging and difficult professional challenge I’ve taken on,” he says. “But it would be unlikely that I would be present to commit another five or six years as chief executive.”

In an interview, Mr. Gladish talked about his accomplishments, his future, and the challenges facing nonprofit organizations.

What attracted you to this position?

I’ve spent a lifetime volunteering for the YMCA. My first job was as the custodian in the basement at the YMCA in downtown Northbrook [in Illinois].

I was convinced that because of what the YMCA has given to me, I had an absolute responsibility to give back. I realized there were circles of influence that made me who I was: my family, my church, my school, and my YMCA. I made a commitment to myself that if any one of those asked me to do something I thought I could do well, I had an obligation to say yes.

The call came in 1999. The YMCA provided the invitation and I made the commitment.

At first, after we talked, I felt they were not interested. But as the conversation went on, it was clear the organization was interested in change and a little different approach, which we have taken.

Why is it time for you to move on?

I’m the first chief executive of the YMCA who is not retiring from the job. Most of those who came before me came to the job later in their careers, when they were in their 50s or 60s. I came in my mid-40s to the position. I told the search committee that hired me that, based on the challenges, I thought at the time a six- to nine-year tenure would be appropriate.

Some of my colleagues have served longer and very successfully in longer tenures. But this was the right amount of time for me in this position.

What lessons did you learn in this position?

The most important asset we have in the nonprofit sector is trust. That is the most important thing. All of us in the sector depend on the community we serve, our donors, our members, our board, the government. I had that message reinforced over and over and over again in my current world.

From the very technical stuff, like keeping your 990s in shape, having an operating board, making sure the finances are run in a clean way, that there are no conflicts of interests, to the more personal interactions. Everything we do is risky. At the YMCA, so many of our activities are focused on youth. We have swimming programs, overnight camping trips. The trust that is involved in that is incredible. The most important lesson is you know how fragile and how important trust is.

What are you hoping to do next?

I made a commitment to myself and my family that I wasn’t going to be actively engaged in the search process until near the end of my tenure. It takes a great deal of energy and focus just to do the work.

I do have some other areas of intellectual interest I will be pursuing. I’m trying to encourage and stimulate interest in the future of the federation form of nonprofit governance. It deserves more attention and it is not getting it.

Secondly, I’m a passionate advocate of the relationship of philanthropy and democracy.

Finally, one of the huge challenges nonprofits face is in the rising generation of nonprofit leaders and volunteers. In my role, I’m trying to be a good mentor.

I’m absolutely convinced a good bit of the future of the sector lies in lifting up and educating the next generation of leaders. I hope to play a larger role in that effort in the future.

Is this more of an issue than in the past?

Every single executive I speak to in the YMCA family and beyond talks about the issue of leadership. The baby boomers are reaching an age where they are going to be retiring and having a lot of financial flexibility. Meanwhile, kids, because of college debt and financial circumstance, are taking jobs outside of the nonprofit sector.

At same time, there are unprecedented opportunities through programs such as City Year and AmeriCorps. There’s a generation waiting to make a difference. We need to try to get people not just to spend a little time in the sector, but to spend a career in the sector, which is how meaningful work will get done.