The opportunity facing YMCA leaders
Across communities, leaders are navigating disconnection, strained relationships, social isolation, changing expectations, and people carrying very different experiences into the same spaces.
The Y already has something many organizations are trying to build: trust, presence, relationships, and a place where people actually encounter one another.
The opportunity is to turn that proximity into deeper connection.
Being in the same place doesn’t automatically make us a connected community.
Connected communities happen when YMCA staff, members, volunteers and partners are co-creating across difference to widen the circle of concern for each other.
The Y’s values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility offer a meaningful lens for reflection.
Caring may invite deeper attention to what staff, members, volunteers, and partners are experiencing. Honesty may require naming where connection is strong and where it is thin. Respect can create room for different perspectives and forms of community knowledge to shape what gets built together.
Responsibility then asks what each person might do with their own role, relationships, and influence to strengthen those connections—not only within the Y, but between the Y and the community and place it is rooted in. The goal is not sameness or agreement; it is creating the conditions for more people to contribute, connect, and build something together.
Where might your Y be ready to grow?
Leadership + Staff Culture
Are leaders equipped to navigate difference, build trust, and create stronger experiences of connection across teams?
Board + Leadership Alignment
Could stronger relationships, shared language, or trust between board and staff improve organizational effectiveness?
Community Bridging
Is your Y positioned to convene people, organizations, and perspectives that don’t usually work together?
Strategy Development
Do you have the aspiration but need help translating it into practical behaviors, experiences, and initiatives?
Continue the Learning
Take the conversation home with a practical guide for exploring connectedness in your local Y. The resource includes YMCA-specific reflection prompts to help you notice where connection is strong, where it may be thin, and what could be possible next—plus simple, turn-key practices for using the Five A’s individually and collectively to strengthen relationships, leadership, and community connection.
When You’re Ready to Go Deeper
Endorsements from Texas Leaders
“Ben has a rare ability to help leaders engage difficult differences without losing sight of relationship, shared purpose, or possibility. His work creates the conditions for people to see differently, build trust, and translate connection and into how they actually lead.”
Steven Ives, CEO of YMCA Greater Houston
“Ben McBride galvanizes large groups and inspires those around him to take action. Seasoned leaders and up-and-coming organizers can turn to Empower Initiative for pathbreaking ideas, innovative leadership and wise counsel.”
Cynt Marshall, former CEO of the Dallas Mavericks
“Ben has a rare ability to create the conditions for hard conversations to become possible. He doesn’t rush people past tension or manufacture easy agreement; he helps people stay present, speak honestly, and build the trust needed to keep going.”
David Rodgers, President of H.E. Butt Foundation
What Sparked Something for Your Y?
Take a minute to complete the form below and tell us what sparked something for your Y. Your responses will help us understand where YMCA leaders see opportunity and what kinds of resources, learning, or support would be most useful next.
