YMCA Of San Diego County Names Todd Tibbits Next President And CEO

By City News Service, Times of San Diego

July 9, 2021

The YMCA of San Diego County Wednesday announced the appointment of a YMCA veteran as its president and CEO, following an extensive national search that drew 64 candidates into a multi-round selection process.

Todd Tibbits, who has been president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte since 2016, will take the helm of the San Diego County operation on Aug. 11.

The YMCA of San Diego County is one of the largest YMCAs in the country, with pre-COVID revenues of more than $200 million, serving nearly 500,000 San Diego County residents and employing more than 5,500 people.

“We are delighted that this exhaustive national search has brought Todd into our YMCA of San Diego County family,” said Kathy Scott, chair of the YMCA of San Diego County board of directors. “Todd is exactly what our Y needs right now. He brings a proven ability to drive strategic growth and operational excellence in intricate and multifaceted organizations, foster and grow community partnerships, and will provide undisputed value to our donors and members.”

The local YMCA faced quite a few setbacks during the pandemic, furloughing 2,000 employees in November and laying off 1,860 of them in January, though some have been rehired. It also put its Escondido location up for sale.

“The YMCA movement is my passion,” Tibbits said in a statement released by the organization. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring my decades of leadership and member service experience to San Diego and to continue creating positive social change by partnering with others to meet the needs of San Diego’s most vulnerable youth and families.”

Tibbits has 30 years of experience leading multiple YMCAs and developing community partnerships and social justice programs at YMCAs across the country.

“Over the years, I’ve watched the YMCA of San Diego County becoming a national leader in its work with Youth & Family Services,” he said. “It is well positioned to be a national model for innovation, equity, impact and organizational sustainability as our country emerges from the pandemic. I’m looking forward to serving with the San Diego team to keep that momentum going and our mission advancing.”

At the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Tibbits led strategic vision for one of the 10 largest YMCAs in the United States, with a pre-pandemic operating budget of $99 million and the highest membership revenue of any YMCA in the country throughout the pandemic.

Prior to Charlotte, Tibbits was chief operating officer of the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities in Minnesota. He began his career in 1992 in Lansing, Michigan, before leading the YMCA and JCC of Greater Toledo, Ohio.

In succeeding Baron Herdelin-Doherty, Tibbits will lead the YMCA of San Diego County as it prepares to make organizational changes to its business model necessitated by the pandemic, when membership dropped by 80%.

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