Kevin Bolding, who has served as the COO of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh for the last six years, has been named the organization’s president and CEO. And he is getting his tenure off to a bold start with a new program to bring the Y to where it isn’t.
“We call it ‘Y on the Fly’ and, basically, it will utilize a van to be in 100 different locations this summer where there is no YMCA presence,” he said.
“It’s all about youth recreation and healthier ways to eat. Now we can’t bring a pool with us, but when I was a kid, if we had a football or a bat and glove, we had a day of activity. So we’re excited to see what this turns out to be. It may have a lifetime beyond just a summer program.
When Bolding was a kid in Lynchburg, Va. he gave no thought to the Y, let alone eventually having a career in the organization. But after graduating from the University of Virginia, then spending about three hours as an accountant, he took a position with the LINKS that changed everything.
“I ran a middle-school program for them and it hit all the strings for me, let me be a role model, helping kids in struggling minority communities, and giving them a chance to bridge the gap,” he said.
“I loved it. The Y let me build it from scratch. We made a game about how the stock market worked—no one was doing that stuff back in the 90s. And someone told me the Y was looking for a director. “
He got the job, and though he was never a “Y rat,” he learned that during segregation, it had been the “Black Y” in Lynchburg. It was where his parents, uncles and aunts learned to swim.
“That was meaningful for me,” he said. “And here I am, 22 years later—a second-generation Y rat.”
After Lynchburg, Bolding managed the Metropolitan Y to Detroit, Mich. for 10 years, then moved to Miami.
Detroit was culture shock, going to such a big city. I don’t think I knew any of my neighbors,” he said. “Miami was a wonderful diversion from reality. It was great, but it wasn’t home. Pittsburgh is the only place beside Lynchburg that feels like home.”
And in his new home, going forward he and the Y will focus on three core initiative: Food insecurity, the Y now has seven different urban gardens—even in the suburbs; closing the achievement gap work, the Y operates 50 different sites delivering after-school programs, especially to kid in city, and eliminating heath disparities.
“You see that more profoundly illustrated in city, the predominance of pre-diabetes is alarming,” he said. “So, we’re trying to work on that, not just gym-and-swim but for total health. So its going to be those three areas. The buildings are just a tool. The idea behind it—that is the focus going forward.”
Bolding and his wife are members of Central Baptist Church in the Hill District, and are also actively engaged in the local chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. They currently reside in Kennedy Township.
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