HELENE WEIR, THE NEW CEO OF THE WESTPORT WESTON FAMILY Y

JANUARY 4 TH

Helene Weir, recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Westport Weston Family Y will speak at the weekly meeting of the Y's Men of Westport /Weston on Thursday, January 4th. In her talk, “Why the Y?”, she will discuss the Y's plans for its proposed move to Camp Mahackeno. The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East.

Ms. Weir's appointment is the culmination of a nationwide search conducted over a period of several months. Working with consultants from the YMCA of the USA, the seven-member Search Committee – composed of staff and board members – winnowed a list of more than 100 interested individuals to a field of five, including candidates from YMCAs around the country as well as people outside the Y community. She is the eighth CEO of the Westport Weston Family Y and is a seasoned YMCA professional with more than 22 years of front-line experience in the Association.

Helene most recently served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Valley of the Sun YMCA in Phoenix AZ. While there, she had oversight responsibility for seven branches with a combined budget of $14 million and supervised the Vice Presidents of Marketing and Membership Development and of Program Development. During her tenure, Valley of the Sun YMCA realized increased revenue, membership growth and improved retention rates.

Her professional accomplishments include:

• A successful capital campaign for and renovation of the 36-year-old Chris-Town YMCA
• Financial turnaround of the Chris-Town Y from an annual deficit to the largest surplus in the Association
• Supervision of a seven-branch annual campaign resulting in the largest percentage of members contributing in the Association
• Staff leadership on the Valley of the Sun Y Board Strategic Planning Committee for development of the five-year strategic plan

A native of Canada, Helene has called the United States home since assuming the position of Vice President, Executive Director at Valley of the Sun YMCA in 2000. She has a demonstrated ability for strategic planning, fiscal management and development of community, volunteers and staff as a result of experience gained at Valley of the Sun Y and while serving as YMCA of Calgary General Manager and as Director of “Shape Up Alberta” at the YMCA of Edmonton. Her experience has been enhanced by her involvement with the Kuala Lumpur YMCA as well as her participation in YMCA World Urban Network Leadership Training in Auckland.

For more information about the Y's Men, contact Bill Meyer, Membership Chairman at 226-3704 or Jon Fox, President at 227-2679 or visit their website: www.ysmenwestportweston.org