Sue Glass is the First Woman to Lead the Greater Charlotte YMCA
Sue Glass is the First Woman to Lead the YMCA of Greater Charlotte.
Source: CEO & President, YMCA of Greater Charlotte / other
For the first time in 150 years, Sue Glass has been named as the first woman to lead the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. Glass was also the first female to lead the YMCA of Metropolitan Denver. She has an extensive background in serving and spent more than twenty years with the Amercian Diabetes Association.
The board chair for the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Charles Bowman, says “Sue’s background and skill set represent exactly what we were looking for in the Y’s next leader.” Glass says the YMCA has a tremendous opportunity to continue their rich history and legacy of transformation on a personal and community level. “It’s an opportunity for the organization to lean into what are the needs of the community and how we can address them as an organization. The mission of the organization remains the same since the Y is rooted in community.”
While in Denver, Glass led the organization during the pandemic. She says they created focus, had to understand what the community needs were, step into and support them and keep everything moving. According to Glass, her team stood in the gap. “It was a lot of moving parts that were happening simultaneously, but I had to create the environment to say it’s go time, as we saw the need. We didn’t need to have everything figured out.” Glass says that the Denver YMCA became the largest provider of emergency childcare, provided assistance to kids during virtual school and assisted seniors. In 2021, Glass was named one of the most admired CEOs by the Denver Business Journal. She says the recognition was based on building unity and building confidence among the staff.
When asked about her leadership style, Glass described the CEO honor as a humbling experience. “Because not only are you serving your staff and the members and the community, but you’re also serving. You’re there to really help and ignite and to inspire and make a difference.” She says that it’s important that the Y is rooted in their mission to put Christian principles into practice and to build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. How do we continue to be the light for the community and how do we serve as that beacon of hope for our community? Our mission is at the forefront of everything that we do, which is to love people and to serve people.”
Glass says that she wishes that the Y could predict strategic plans for the next 150 years but will accept building a few years at a time for now.
