It is with mixed emotions that we share the news that Bill Seedes will be resigning from his director position with our YMCA, effective April 2.
Bill joined our staff in January 2016 as the first Executive Director of the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA. Over the past five years, he has served in that key leadership role while also serving stints as director of the Betty J. Pullum Family YMCA in Navarre.
Bill was offered the opportunity to return to his hometown of Philadelphia and continue his Y career in the same association where it began. He will be assuming leadership of the Willow Grove YMCA, a new facility located just miles from the site of the former Abington Y, where Bill began his Y career 25 years ago.
Under his leadership, the Bear Levin Studer Y opened its doors in November 2016. Within six months, the branch had hit the 10,000-member mark, about 2 ½ times what it was in the previous building. Bill has supported strong wellness and aquatics programs, built collaborations with other local nonprofits, increased donor support for the Y, and created a strong culture of welcoming and inclusion for all. He’s become known among staff and members for his tireless work ethic, his commitment to the Y mission, and his engaging sense of humor. He will be missed.
“I have enjoyed the opportunities and successes we have shared during these past five years, and I am especially proud to have been the first Executive Director of the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA,” Bill said. “These are experiences have helped shape me into the leader I am today. I will treasure the relationships I have developed with many on the Y team and with community leaders I have served with.”
“It’s with sadness and joy that I announce that Bill Seedes has been named as the new executive director for the Willow Grove YMCA in Philadelphia,” said CEO Michael Bodenhausen. “As the executive director of the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA since its opening, Bill has led us in unprecedented growth in membership, which has had a positive impact on our organization and more importantly, on our community. We support him and wish him well in this next chapter of his life.”
From a young age, Bill Seedes hung out at his local Y about a quarter mile from his home, where he played baseball, soccer and any other sport the Y offered. He calls himself a “three-time Y offender,” serving in the Philadelphia association, the Orlando association, and now here. This upcoming move will take him and his family back home, while also challenging him with a facility about twice the size and membership of the Bear Levin Studer Y.
The Y leadership team is actively interviewing candidates to fill the director position. We expect to have a new leader on board by mid-April.