Jim Clark Of Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Lessons I Learned From Last Year To Take Our Organization to the Next Level in 2024
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Embrace new ways for getting things done. In a federated autonomous enterprise like Boys & Girls Clubs, we continue to prioritize local decision-making and empower each local organization to determine its own path. But we also recognize the strength that can come with collective action. Finding the balance between autonomy and the immense potential of unified efforts is something we are continuing to balance.
This series aims to discuss the experiences and lessons learned by top executives over the past year, and how these insights are shaping the landscape for change and innovation in 2024. The past year has been a time of unprecedented challenges and opportunities, requiring adaptive leadership and innovative strategies. We believe that sharing these experiences can inspire and guide others in their endeavors to drive positive change in their organizations and industries. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Clark, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
As President & CEO of one of the nation’s largest youth development organizations, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Jim Clark directs a network of more than 5,400 Boys & Girls Clubs that serve 3.3 million young people annually in all 50 states and on U.S. military installations worldwide. Under Mr. Clark’s leadership, Boys & Girls Clubs continually introduce programming that supports youth in achieving positive outcomes, including STEM initiatives, health and wellness education, academic success programs, workforce readiness and more. Mr. Clark holds a business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and he and his wife, Samantha, live in Atlanta with their two sons.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share a little about your background and what pivotal moments led you to your current position as an executive?
I began my career at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 1979 where I enjoyed working in a variety of leadership roles in distribution, marketing and customer service operations, eventually advancing to senior vice president over my 24 years with the company. During that time, I also served as an active board member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, which provided an up-close-and-personal look at the impact Boys & Girls Clubs have on the lives of youth. I knew then that this was something I wanted to continue to be a part of however I could. I served on the board for about 10 years and then in 2004 I joined the organization as President and CEO.
After eight wonderful years leading the Milwaukee organization, in 2012 my incredibly supportive wife and family agreed to relocate to Atlanta where I became President and CEO of our national organization, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Since that time, I’ve had the privilege of a lifetime leading a network of over 5,400 Boys & Girls Clubs that enhance the lives of more than 350,000 kids and teens across the United States, including on Native lands and on military installations worldwide.
What were the early challenges you faced in your career, and how did they shape your approach to leadership?
One challenge I faced early in my career was the transition from being someone’s peer to their manager. While this is never easy, and many aren’t successful, a few things helped me stay on course:
- Be fair in all you do and the decisions you make. Sometimes it may be difficult, but if you are fair and honest, you will be respected, and it will show your respect for others in return.
- Second, (and related) don’t play favorites. Even if you are close to someone, it is important to separate work from personal.
As a leader, it’s vital to prioritize loyalty both to your organization and your team. However, if someone exploits a relationship or situation, you must prioritize the interests of the organization and act in accordance with what you know is right for the business. Also, during the time in my career when I wasn’t as seasoned or experienced as a leader, I faced the inevitable challenges that come with “not knowing what you don’t know.” Because I had awareness about this, I paid close attention to other great leaders and what they did and how they acted. I asked several of those leaders to mentor me and I formed a “kitchen cabinet” to go to when I was stuck or needed confidential advice. I also paid attention to the leaders I thought did things that I didn’t like and made note of that so I wouldn’t do those things.
It was clear to me early on as a young leader that I didn’t have all the experience that many others had so I conscientiously told myself that I needed to work harder to make up for it. And I did. When I think back to this time, I am reminded of some sage wisdom a leader once gave me. He said, “If you want to be a leader, walk like one, talk like one, act like one and look like one and someday you will be one.”
We often learn the most from our mistakes. Can you share one that you made that turned out to be one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned?
Hiring mistakes! We’ve all made them — I know I’ve certainly made my fair share. There’s one example that I often think back on, which has proven to be a great lesson that still serves me today.
Early in my career, I needed to fill a position desperately, so I selected someone on the basis of “hoping” they’d grow into the role and be successful. My takeaway here? Hope is not a strategy and knowingly placing someone in a role where they may fail is ultimately a disservice to the company and to the person.
While hiring quickly — in this case, it was to fill a missing role — may seem like the best option in that moment, it only caused more disruption to more people when the hire didn’t work out. Finding a qualified person is far more important than filling a role quickly.
As an executive, how do you define success, both personally and for your organization?
My mantra as a leader is simple: “are you growing or declining?” That’s it. I believe there are only two ways to go in life and in profession — up or down. Down is usually not good for anyone or for any entity, and it’s especially harmful when it comes to Boys & Girls Clubs where we’re committed to the potential of America’s kids and teens. If we’re not moving up, what’s at stake — the great futures of our young people — is far too great.
Reflecting on 2023, what was the most unexpected challenge you faced, and how did you navigate it?
As an organization, I’d say a challenge we continue to face is being able to truly measure the impact that the last few years have had on young people. While all youth collectively experienced the trauma of the pandemic, for some, that experience was compounded by their own personal life circumstances.
According to our annual Youth Right Now survey on the state of America’s youth, when we asked more than 130,000 kids and teens about their mental health, 70% reported that when something important goes wrong in their life, they can’t stop worrying about it. Data like this shows us that youth mental health resources and support have never been more critical. But with a challenge this significant, it’s crucial to recognize that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution; it takes a combination of resources and strategies to make a difference. That’s why we’ve adopted a five-pronged strategy to support youth in our Clubs: 1. provide emotionally safe support for young people; 2. adopt a trauma-informed approach; 3. increase staff training to include topics on trauma and mental health; 4. proactively partner with families to meet youth needs; 5. build partnerships with national and local mental health service providers.
What was a significant risk you took this year, and how did it turn out?
In a federated model — just like any franchise structure, trust and strong relationships are paramount. Since we operate by service and influence versus mandate, there is always a risk when we look to embed a new initiative or requirement into the system. All local Club leadership must vote to approve any new operational or membership requirement, therefore the risk is extremely high and dependent on passage/affirmation.
What may seem to be a universally good idea can have the appearance of heavy-handedness and be misconstrued thus, potentially damaging trust. After a few years of thoughtful education, information dissemination, explanation, and coalition building we moved an initiative to vote for a new mandatory safety assessment of every location. This had the potential to be highly contentious due to potential cost and the increased operation needs it could cause. The risk of eroding the trust we’ve worked so hard to build was high, and a no confidence vote would have moved our enterprise backward by years.
Though this was the right action for the right reason, it did require Club participation and advocacy from the start. By communicating the “why” openly and honestly, building advocates across the country in every type of Club organization, and reiterating our collective commitment to continuously enhancing the safety of all young people we serve, we were able to gain the trust and confidence to achieve a majority favorable outcome from the vote.
How has your company’s mission or purpose affected its overall success? Can you explain the methods or metrics you use to evaluate the impact of this purpose-driven strategy on your organization?
Thankfully, there are few people who would disagree that the potential of America’s kids and teens is critically important. Because of this, we’re fortunate to have wonderful supporters, donors and partners. We also have incredibly passionate staff and parents who really understand the value of Clubs.
To ensure we’re on track toward our mission, we regularly survey the youth in our Clubs, as well as their parents and guardians. We want to know whether our programs are delivering the intended outcomes, and we want to quickly identify where we could be meeting unaddressed needs. Because of this regular feedback, we know that Clubs are successfully supporting young people in critical areas like social-emotional wellbeing, academic success and preparation for the workforce. In fact, 90% of Club youth say that they feel safe being themselves at their Club and that the adults at their Club listen to them and understand them. Eighty-three percent report making grades of either mostly A’s or mostly B’s in the last school year, with 75% expecting to go to college. And more than half (62%) are confident they have the skills needed to be successful in a job. When it comes to parents, 95% of Boys & Girls Club parents say the Club plays an important role in their family life, and 92% say the Club has prepared their child for the future.
Have you ever faced a situation where your commitment to your purpose and creating a positive social impact clashed with the profitability in your business? Have you ever been challenged by anyone on your team or had to make a tough decision that had a significant impact on finances? If so, how did you address and reconcile this conflict?
This is a dynamic inherent among nonprofits. With deep passion often comes a burning desire to do more which, at times, can override a business decision and cloud good business judgement.
During the early days of the pandemic there were many unknowns, yet the need for what Boys & Girls Clubs offer was the greatest it had ever been. A difficult decision I made was to reduce costs significantly, which meant the elimination of some full-time positions at our national headquarters. It was very painful to navigate, knowing what this meant in the lives of the impacted staff and the significant challenges in the months ahead to support our field and local organizations. Yet, I knew that not making proper adjustments could put the entire enterprise at risk. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do.
Could you list the top five things you’ve learned in 2023, with specific examples of how these lessons impacted your decisions or strategies?
When leading one of the largest youth-serving organizations, there is no shortage of lessons and learnings. I’d say five that rise to the top from 2023 are:
- Pay attention to the details and recognize those deep in the organization for their contributions. It’s important to me to make special callouts of gratitude for those that may not typically be recognized, like building facilities staff, and to take opportunities to callout key groups from the mainstage during our annual National Staff Summit.
- Focus. If everything is important, then nothing is. One way I put this into practice is during a weekly executive leadership call I host; all attendees are instructed to report their updates with a direct tie back to our organization’s strategic plan.
- Really listen to others’ views and have the courage to go with it, even if it’s outside of your own comfort zone. When a new senior leader joined our staff in 2023, I put this into practice by giving her room to try new things that she identified as important; one of those things was refreshing our organization’s employee values. Knowing these values are deeply embraced and quickly became sacred to our organization, I was not initially interested in altering them at all. However, I took a leap of faith and went with the leader’s recommended plan because it was a good idea to make some minor adjustments.
- Embrace new ways for getting things done. In a federated autonomous enterprise like Boys & Girls Clubs, we continue to prioritize local decision-making and empower each local organization to determine its own path. But we also recognize the strength that can come with collective action. Finding the balance between autonomy and the immense potential of unified efforts is something we are continuing to balance.
- Leveraging force multiplication. While this is not a new concept, we made significant strides in 2023 when we saw our teams rally around it — finding new ways that the actions we take can impact more kids, families and communities. One example of this is an unprecedented statewide project in Indiana with the Lilly Foundation. Different from how we previously operated, this created an opportunity to expand impact across the entire state, bringing in more Boys & Girls Clubs, families and communities. We’ve even begun to see how this “force multiplier” continues, delivering preliminary strong outcomes that are so promising that we are talking about expanding into other states.
How have these top five lessons from 2023 changed your outlook or approach for 2024?
The lessons from 2023 have become rallying cries for some of our departments, and they’ve created a desire from our leaders to accelerate performance in their own areas. They’ve helped our teams stay focused on the priorities and given them permission to ask questions as to why we are doing things or if now is the right time. I also hope I’ve set an example on celebrating success and recognizing others. With this new energy across our teams, I’m incredibly optimistic for the successes to come in 2024.
In terms of innovation and adaptation, what’s one change you implemented in 2023 or plan to do in 2024 that you believe will be crucial for the future of your business?
For generations, trauma has often been suppressed, mislabeled and ignored — it was not the norm for a parent, teacher or mentor to inquire about a child’s trauma, let alone directly address it.
In 2023, Boys & Girls Clubs of America announced a $10 million national partnership with Blue Cross Blue Sheild Association to help scale our impact as it relates to youth mental health support. Together, we’re working to provide critical training and resources to Boys & Girls Club staff in all 5400+ Clubs across the country so they’re equipped to support youth from a well-rounded, trauma-informed lens.
Boys & Girls Clubs understand that at its core, “trauma-informed” means understanding the impact of traumatic experiences and responding in ways that provide pathways to healing. We also understand that trauma goes beyond the significant traumatic experiences we typically envision. It can come from experiencing discrimination or witnessing violence in schools and communities. For today’s youth, it can also come from cyber-bullying or seeing images of brutality or natural disasters on social media. Everything we do as an organization is rooted in our commitment to being trauma-informed and helping all young people reach their full potential.
In a Club, this might look like helping a child recognize what they’re feeling to regulate their emotions, talking about mental health regularly to normalize seeking support, and expanding access to mental health services for youth and caregivers through partnerships like Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
In terms of scale, this partnership has the potential to positively impact more than 3 million young people that Boys & Girls Clubs serve across the nation.
As a leader, how do you foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement within your team or organization?
I take a lot of lessons from mentors and supervisors who have impacted my career and I apply them to my leadership approach today. An early supervisor instilled in me the importance of leading by example and not asking anyone to do anything I wouldn’t first do myself. I also learned an important life lesson early on about creating an atmosphere or environment conducive to self-motivation. This means creating a culture where everyone’s contributions are valued, acknowledged, and supported. Where it’s not just about achieving organizational goals; it’s about creating a sense of purpose and fulfillment for those you lead. When people feel a sense of purpose, when they feel valued, and when they feel they have leaders they can trust to walk the walk, a desire to grow and do their best work becomes intrinsic.
Looking at the broader industry landscape, what emerging trends do you think will be most influential in the coming year?
Undoubtedly, AI will continue to evolve and impact every industry; it’s a remarkable tool that provides unparalleled access to information. It can also make tasks more efficient for nonprofits which are frequently challenged by understaffing. I’m eager to discover new ways this technology can be applied to both the nonprofit and youth development spaces to support our impact.
That said, looking ahead, I think we’ll need to remain mindful of potentially adverse effects, especially concerning critical thinking and problem-solving skills in young people. When answers are readily available at their fingertips, there’s the risk that they’ll become reliant on these tools rather than foster deeper analytical thinking.
At Boys & Girls Clubs, we’re committed to preparing youth not only academically but also for the workforce. With AI changing the nature of many jobs as we know them, our challenge as youth development professionals will be two-fold: 1. We’ll need find a balance between leveraging the benefits of AI and fostering independent thinking and problem-solving abilities; and 2. We’ll need to stay at the forefront of this rapidly evolving technology and provide young people with the most up-to-date training and skills to remain competitive in this shifting landscape.
How can our readers further follow your work or your company online?
There are so many ways people can support Boys & Girls Clubs of America or a local Boys & Girls Club in their community. We encourage everyone to follow our social channels @bgca_clubs and visit our website www.bgca.org to learn more about the impact of work and hear from many of the incredible youth we serve across the nation. You can also use our “Find a Club” tool to locate the nearest Club in your area and become involved.
This was great. Thanks for taking time for us to learn more about you and your business. We wish you continued success!
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Jim Clark Of Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Lessons I Learned From Last Year To Take Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.