GREENFIELD — Six months after former Franklin County YMCA CEO Grady Vigneau retired in June, the Y appointed Wesley Jackson, executive director of South End Community Center of Springfield, Inc., to take the organization’s helm.
In his time leading the South End Community Center of Springfield (SECC), Jackson specialized in youth engagement and programming, having launched a series of youth and family programs such as the Father/Child Initiative, Community Youth Corps for at-risk youth, Healthy Summer Youth Jobs Program and Out of School Time.
Franklin County YMCA Board of Directors President Joseph Viadero, in an interview Wednesday, explained that Jackson’s talent for youth and family programming and financial planning under his leadership made him stand out among 35 applicants. Under Jackson’s leadership, the SECC’s operating budget grew from $400,000 to more than $1 million — a jump attributed largely to grant growth, strategic partnerships and innovative programming.
“We’re very fortunate in picking Wes Jackson as our next CEO. He brings a tremendous amount of experience in the nonprofit sector, and as far as dealing with the youth in Springfield, his history down there is remarkable and he has done great things with his community center in the south end of Springfield that we are hoping he will bring up to Franklin County with him,” Viadero said. “He has experience in grant writing, and also the ability to reach out to this community.”
According to a written statement from the Franklin County YMCA, Jackson is known for his collaborative leadership style. The Y stated that during his tenure in Springfield, he tripled program participation, doubled fundraising revenue and modernized SECC’s operations with updated technology and streamlined systems.
He also serves as Baystate Academy Charter Public School’s athletic director and assistant coach for men’s basketball at Westfield State University. Having worked at the SECC since 2001, when he began as an intern, Jackson said he is motivated by helping the community and providing support to those who need it most. He noted that after touring the Franklin County YMCA facility, it became clear to him that the Y’s staff shares his passion.
“I felt the energy that’s there. But also, there’s such a range of things that can get done there … the building has a lot of character, and I think we have more that we could do inside there. There’s a playground that’s got to get built, so we can do more with the daycare and preschool, but it’s just being able to reach more people,” Jackson said. “There are 5,000 members, but there’s 80,000 people in Franklin County, so there’s a wide range of people that we’re not servicing yet that I want to tap into and give services to everybody. My life has always been to help people … and this opportunity made that possible.”
Jackson, who holds a master of science in nonprofit management and philanthropy from Bay Path University, will start at the YMCA Feb. 2. He will join the organization at a time when it is expanding its daycare center through its acquisition of the Zion Korean Church property at 463 Main St. and renovating its current 451 Main St. location.
Discussing his goals for the Y, Jackson said he hopes to find ways to secure additional grant funding for the organization and find more members and donors to help the YMCA expand services. He said he also hopes to begin a new basketball program to give talented members of the community “an outlet” for the sport.
“There are opportunities that I don’t think they have even tapped into yet that we could do, but there’s a blueprint of things already in place that could use extra supporters, more funding towards it, more eyes on it, to get the word out that these are great programs,” Jackson said. “I want to make it affordable for families, that’s very important to me … I do a pretty good job of finding creative different funding sources and revenue streams to generate enough revenue that we can lower prices and make it more affordable for people.”