News

August 21, 2018

Dear YW Boston Supporter,

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the YW Boston Board of Directors has named Beth Chandler President & CEO of the organization.

New CEO

As you may know, YW Boston has been going through a number of transitions over the last year. In late September, for health reasons, Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, our long time President and CEO, resigned. Sadly, she passed away in November. The Board appointed Beth, who had been YW Boston’s Chief Operating Officer, to serve as Interim President & CEO and to lead us through an important strategic planning process. Sylvia left big shoes to fill and Beth filled them beautifully. 

As the first YWCA in the country, YW Boston has been a leader in advancing equity and opportunity for women and other marginalized groups since 1866. Throughout our history, we have confronted the most pressing social issues of the times—supporting civil rights movements, education reform, equal job opportunity initiatives, pay equity, access to health care services, and other causes central to the elevation of women’s rights.

Today, our mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all is critical to our city. Beth Chandler is well-poised to lead us as we work to achieve these critical goals. 

Beth joined YW Boston in November 2012, with more than 20 years of experience in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors.  Her breadth of work experience encompasses program development, delivery and evaluation, business development, and operations.

A former professional basketball player, Beth received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Leadership & Strategic Direction

With Beth’s outstanding leadership and vision, we have spent the past year focusing on refining our strategic direction and intended impact with a goal of being responsive to the most pressing needs in our community. Recent events in our country, the rise of the #MeToo movement, and pieces such as the Globe Spotlight Team’s series on racism in Boston,  have helped demonstrate that as a community we have a great deal of work to do, particularly at the intersection of race and gender.

YW Boston continues its long tradition of advancing women and people of color, and in particular women of color, through programs and initiatives that address the most challenging and persistent inequities in our community. Through our programs, such as LeadBoston, the Youth Leadership Initiative known as “InIt”, and our Dialogues on Race and Ethnicity; through our events such as Stand Against Racism, the Academy of Women Achievers and our Elevating Lives Series; and through advocacy, YW Boston disseminates high quality, actionable information about areas of inequity, so that they may be addressed. Our programs educate and empower individuals, organizations and corporations  to take action towards a more equitable society, from exploring personal bias to changing policies and practices.

I hope you will join me and the YW Boston Community as we welcome Beth Chandler as President and CEO of this important organization. Under her leadership, we will work across racial, gender, religious, and economic divides, to bring people together to create solutions for the challenges we face.

Sincerely,

Mim Minichiello

Chair, YW Boston Board of Directors