President and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Jim Clark joined Boys & Girls Clubs of America as president and CEO in 2012, leading a network of more than four thousand Boys & Girls Clubs serving four million young people annually—in every state, in large cities and small towns, in public housing, on Native lands, on U.S. military installations worldwide. He’s guided BGCA through the Great Futures Impact Plan, an exciting new strategic direction. Under his leadership, Clubs are increasing their impact on young people by focusing on Academic Success, Good Character and Citizenship, and Healthy Lifestyles as priority outcome areas.

To ensure the best possible service to its Clubs, Clark spearheaded a major restructuring. He’s introduced innovative programming that supports the outcome areas in fun, engaging ways, including state-of-the-art STEM initiatives and Brain Gain, a program to combat summer learning loss. BGCA is emphasizing services to Clubs in child protection and safety, executive and board development, increasing Club attendance, boosting high school graduation rates, and fighting childhood obesity.

Prior to joining BGCA, Clark spent eight years as president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, one of the nation’s strongest Club organizations. He lives in Atlanta, home of BGCA’s national headquarters, with his wife, Samantha, and their two sons.

What are the accomplishments you are most proud of?
Meeting the young people whose lives are transformed by their experience belonging to the Boys & Girls Club is truly a privilege of working in this field. These kids succeed because of the guidance and mentorship they receive from dedicated Club professionals, who care deeply, help them believe in themselves, and encourage them to work hard and never give up, despite the obstacles. The scores of dedicated youth development professionals I meet in our Clubs are an inspiration and a source of great pride.
 
Where do you see the field in ten years?
I foresee a much higher level of recognition of the critical importance of out-of-school time as a national priority—and more partnerships between organizations like BGCA and the higher education community, because of the impact we have on helping kids advance academically. We’re seeing more and more research that provides quantitative evidence of the results quality out-of-school programs can achieve, especially in underserved communities. Our vision at BGCA is to work toward the day that no child lacks a high-quality, professionally supervised and structured experience every day, after school and during the summer. To achieve that, we need many more dedicated, qualified professionals to enter the youth development field.
 
What are the biggest opportunities for the afterschool industry?
Two of the biggest areas of opportunity are summer learning loss prevention and STEM education. To put young people on the path to graduation from high school, with a plan for the future, both of these areas are critical. At Boys & Girls Clubs of America we are investing significantly in both, to help create a pipeline for young people who aspire to attend college and succeed in the twenty-first-century economy. And we are adding an “A” to STEM to create STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. We must stimulate creative, innovative thinking as one of the cognitive skills that will enable our kids to advance and our nation to thrive amidst increasing global competition. However, at the most basic level, we must continue to drive improvements in school attendance, which is a key factor in addressing the dropout crisis. We know too many kids start to fall behind as early as second and third grade, and never recover. We can play a major role in helping kids stay on track toward timely academic advancement and ultimate success.
 
What are the biggest challenges facing afterschool?
Everyone in the afterschool and youth development field must realize that, as a famous ad campaign once stated, we must “try harder” to position our work as essential. The nonschool hours represent an investment opportunity in America’s future that is every bit as important as strengthening our schools, teachers, and curricula. We still have much ground to cover in order to make that case. As a leader with more than a century of success, BGCA will play its part, as aggressively as we can, to speak for the afterschool field and advocate for its growth and support.
 
What makes an afterschool program successful?
The short answer is dedicated, caring adults, a safe place, and fun! At Boys & Girls Clubs, we use a Formula for Impact that more formally identifies five key elements for positive youth development: a safe, positive environment; fun; supportive relationships; opportunities and expectations; and recognition. When these are in place, we see positive, measurable outcomes in our three priority areas: academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. Our tagline states that “Great Futures Start Here” at the Boys & Girls Club. When fifty-seven percent of our alumni reported in a Harris Survey that the Club saved their life, it reaffirmed that the formula really does work. Our challenge and our quest are to enable more youth who most need a Club to have this same opportunity.

Edited by Amy L Charles, editorial director of AfterSchool Today magazine, the Official Publication of the National AfterSchool Association.