October 28, 2019
Last week over 200 leaders of our Y gathered at our beautiful Camp Puh'tok for a retreat focused on our Y brand experience. The morning started with a panel of Y associates who exemplify the Y brand and live our values daily, each in their own unique way. They included Shannon Clifton from Head Start, Heather Naviasky from the School Partnerships team, Richard Hegmann from the Perry Hall Y, Alexandra Francois from the Weinberg Y in Waverly and Bob Smith from Y Preschool.
Each spoke earnestly (and sometimes humorously!) about what the Y brand means to them and how they bring it to life daily. Alexandra spoke about inclusiveness and how she was drawn to work at the Weinberg Y because of the opportunity to serve a diverse community and demonstrate to everyone who walks through our doors that they are all equally welcomed and embraced by the Y. Shannon spoke about sometimes having to look a little deeper to understand the personal experiences behind a parent’s frustrations. Richard described the Y as serving as a family for many. Heather spoke about the importance of being a bold advocate for youth. Asked to use one word to summarize the Y brand, Bob said it was "love.”
This discussion was followed by small group activities exploring various aspects of the Y brand promise and experience. We discussed that what sets great brands apart goes way beyond a great ad campaign or a logo. It's really the experience; the way you are treated is ultimately how one perceives a brand. In this context, we introduced the idea of saying “I appreciate you" regularly to our members, participants, volunteers and each other every day. We talked about appreciation as validation of individual worth and creating a sense of belonging, which is the first step in building a sense of community and achieving "a better us."
Our Y Brand Experience Advisory Team, made up of associates across the organization, will be using the work done at the retreat to identify even more ways to improve our Y’s brand experience.
The retreat was also an opportunity to celebrate associates for various things, including participation in our Y Tank opportunity, achievement of a key tenure milestone, and the exemplary demonstration of our core Y competencies. Core competency winners included Debra Einstein and Dawn Crystal-Wolfe (Advancing the Y’s Mission and Cause), Mya Davis and Kelli Longo (Leading Operations), Celeste Holthaus and Christie Ryan (Developing and Inspiring Others), and Carolyn Carcel and Natasha Bentzen (Building Relationships). The Lynn Quinney Award, given in honor of our beloved Y colleague who lost her life much too early to cancer, was Chris Pearce. Please join me in celebrating all of these great folks for their well-deserved recognition and widely appreciated leadership!
Many thanks go to the large group of people who organized the retreat, including Diana Beeson, Christie Ryan and the entire Y Brand Experience Advisory Team, for their excellent work to deliver a memorable Y brand experience for our leaders. I appreciate all of you very much!
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland