YMCA of North Central Ohio named CEO of the year Ohio Alliance of YMCA’s honor Cristen Gilbert MANSFIELD, Ohio (April 20, 2022) -The YMCA of North Central Ohio is proud to announce that Chief Executive Officer, Cristen Gilbert, won the Ohio Alliance of YMCA’s CEO of the Year Award. The staff at YMCA NCO nominated Cristen, and a board of her alliance peers voted on the proposal at the executive level.
Cristen has achieved many accomplishments in her role as CEO, including becoming the first female CEO in the 152‐year history of the organization. In her first two years of becoming CEO in 2012, she restructured the board and worked tirelessly to retire a 3.95‐million‐dollar debt that was hindering the Y for the previous twelve years. She followed this up by creating a successful campaign strategy that increased annual campaign donations by 700%. These two accomplishments were financially successful, but they did not necessarily address community needs in our area. Cristen decided to collaborate with our local school districts to bring before and after-school programming to six of their elementary school buildings and providing care for over 250 families. In 2018 Cristen facilitated the implementation of the first inclusive sensory splash pad in Richland County so children of all abilities could enjoy the water recreation. She then piloted Y on the Wheels, which allowed the Y to take programming outside the facility and meet the needs of our community.
As important as all these accomplishments are, her greatest achievement is leading a merger of the Shelby YMCA and the Mansfield YMCA into the YMCA of North Central Ohio. Cristen was the acting CEO from 2014‐2015 for the Shelby YMCA, mentored their CEO from 2015‐2019, and then acting CEO from 2019 until the merger in November of 2021. Merging two YMCAs from Richland County was an 18-month process of aligning community needs, financial stability, and organizational culture.
A group of YMCA of North Central Ohio board members leading the merger task force were also honored to receive the Volunteers of the Year Award at the Ohio Alliance of YMCA conference. Rick Roby, Court Sturts, Scott Heimann, Theresa Roth, JC Elgin, and Jason Poth spent countless hours building relationships and trust with each other and worked toward the successful joining of two YMCAs and creating a greater impact for our region. This group truly represented the best in volunteerism, and the YMCA is proud to have them as advocates of our organization.
For more information, contact YMCA Marketing and Development Director Sara Baker at 419-522-3511 or visit mansfieldy.org.