By Natasha Ashenhurst
The typical American works for the same employer for only 4.5 years on average, according to a study completed in 2014 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Mike West is anything but typical. He has worked for the Y for over 34 years, the last 20 years of his career serving as President and CEO of the South Sound YMCA.
West recently announced to the Y’s Board of Trustees that he plans to retire by the end of 2015. We sat down with Mike to talk about his career with the Y, his leadership style and his plans for retirement. The Y’s Board of Trustees described Mike as a quiet and strong leader who has devoted a large portion of his career to serving Thurston County, and our entire community has benefited from his service.
“I never intended the Y to be my entire career,” said West. “I went to college to become an educator, but through a few twists and turns ended up working for the Y as a youth program director in my hometown of Findlay, Ohio.”
His career took off and soon he moved to Grants Pass, Oregon to work as a health and wellness director at their new Y. After four years in Oregon he moved on to Everett, Washington as a branch executive. He spent ten years in Everett when he learned that the South Sound YMCA was hiring for president and CEO of the Association. “At that point in my career I was ready to take a stab at the CEO role. In Everett, I was fortunate to have a great mentor who prepared me, teaching me the skills I’d need,” he said.
When he moved to Olympia in the 90s, there was only one branch and it was bursting at the seams. “The Y was in the midst of a capital campaign to build the Briggs Community YMCA. The person who was in my position moved to another opportunity and the campaign had slowed down. So the biggest challenge was to revive and complete the project, and we were able to do that. Our volunteers really helped make it happen and the new branch gave us the opportunity to serve even more people,” said West.
Over the past twenty years the organization has grown from a single Association to a multi-branch Association serving over 50,000 individuals annually via their Olympia Downtown Branch, Briggs Community Branch, Early Childhood Development programs, and community outreach programs.
“The Y is the largest childcare provider in Thurston County. We operate 29 before and after childcare school sites in Thurston and Lewis counties. We also offer a full-day child care center in collaboration with South Puget Sound Community College,” said West.
Neil Woody, CPA and Principal at McSwain & Company, PS, has served on the South Sound Y’s Board of Trustees for over 40 years, and has seen first-hand the results of West’s leadership. “Under Mike’s leadership the Y has expanded the number of programs it offers to the community, including Y’s traditional gym, swim, and youth sports to include cause-driven community-needs programming for cancer survivors, child obesity, diabetes prevention, and summer learning loss. We’ve also seen a tremendous growth in our childcare services and we’ve seen increased financial strength of the organization. This is important because it has allowed us to fulfill our mission of not turning anyone away based on their financial status. We are very proud of that fact,” he said.
Jon Jones, CEO of Washington Business Bank, has served on the Y’s Board of Trustees for over five years. He said, “Mike is what I call a quiet leader who leads by example. Mike’s legacy is a Y that is very healthy financially, a Y that has a real member-centered culture and a Y that is a great place to work.”
West explained his leadership style stating that a leader is only as good as the people he works with, adding, “My job is hiring dedicated, competent individuals, supporting them and letting them do their job. My job is to not get in their way. Right now we are doing some of our best work. We are volunteer led, we have a fantastic board of trustees and a fantastic branch board. They are so forward thinking, willing to think outside the box and embrace opportunities and change. They are visionary and committed to what they do. We also have an incredible staff,” he said.
Working at the Y is more than a job. For many, it is about joining a cause. This is what has kept him working for the same organization for the past 34 years.
He explains, “We know, in a deeper way, that we are changing lives on a daily basis. Any job has good days and bad days, but it is those things—knowing we have great opportunity to change lives, teaching kids to swim, youth sports, working around healthy eating—that makes all the difference,” he said.
Woody agrees, adding, “Mike is a caring person who has done a fantastic job. The Y wouldn’t be where it is today without his leadership.”
When asked what his retirement will look like, West is pretty quiet. He says he plans to spend some time back in Ohio with his 86-year-old dad, and he might just take up fly-fishing.
Whatever form it takes, we wish Mike West all the best in his retirement. Thank you for the years of incredible service to our community.
