Leadership Transition at YouthBridge

To Everything There is a Season…
Regardless of how you know that phrase, be it song lyrics or bible verse, you know it’s true – everything has a beginning and an end.

I am writing this letter to let you know that my time as CEO at YouthBridge Community Foundation is coming to an end. I recently informed our Board of my decision to step down at the end of this year. While details of the transition are still being worked out, we’re hopeful that my successor will be in place to lead this amazing organization on January 4, 2021.

By the time 2020 draws to a close, I will have been CEO for nine years and it’s been an amazing ride! We’ve grown from a small, startup community foundation to one whose assets are now approaching $100 million. But, we’re more than just the sum of our assets. We’ve seen a ten-fold increase in our grantmaking, strengthened our position as a respected and innovative partner and emerged as a leader in impact investing by committing 25% of our endowment to local investments having a direct impact on the St. Louis community. As part of the YouthBridge family, we can all take pride in those accomplishments.

There will be more time for reflection later but for now, I simply wanted to share the news of my decision and to assure you that the Board and I have been working on a succession plan. This Spring, we will begin the search process and there’s no doubt that it will attract some of the best and brightest people in the country, including members of our own staff.

We will keep you posted on our progress with the search and our preparations for the leadership transition. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Michael Howard
Chief Executive Officer