Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and Tampa Bay join forces

Two local chapters of the national Boys & Girls Clubs organization have announced their plans to unite under one President and Chief Executive Officer, Freddy Williams.

Board members from both Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast gave details about the new partnership Wednesday, stating that although the entities will remain legally separate, they will share one leader and enter into a shared services agreement.

“Our organizations share a single vision because we prioritize our mission above the local organizations,” said Matt Dumar, board chair of Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay. “Because we cross that bridge, we actually work together to discuss how we can be better together with this collaboration.”

Boys & Girls Clubs is a national nonprofit that provides programs and services to help positively shape children through after-school and in-school programming focused on health, safety, mentorship and empowerment. Dumar says sharing services will allow Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay, which serves Hillsborough and Pasco counties, and Boys & Girls Club of the Suncoast, which operates in Pinellas County, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their programming, which he says serves a combined 2,500 members per day. 

Williams has been working in leading roles with various Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Florida since 2008, and has been President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast since 2016. He also serves as the national chairman of the board of directors for Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Professional Association. He believes innovative programming, like a new program teaching middle school students about the dangers of opioids, shouldn’t just serve students in Pinellas County.

“It’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all, but whenever we can pool best practices and resources together to the region, that’s how we can find solutions,” Williams said. “We need to model behavior, inspire a shared vision and encourage others to act. Those are the principles that we strive for and that’s what I’m going to be committed to as CEO.”

Both clubs collaborate with their respective sheriff’s departments, which help staff the club locations and host programming meant to keep children out of the juvenile justice system. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who serves on the board of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast, believes sharing services is crucial to keeping youth on both sides of the bay on a positive path.

“Tampa Bay is a region and we need to act like a region,” Gualtieri said. “We need to function in that way and break down any barriers to the success of kids, because it is about the kids not just surviving but not thriving. That’s what we want to see.”

Larry Bevis, Interim CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay, plans to go back to serving as a board member after leading the organization for the past four months. At Wednesday’s announcement event, Bevis commended Williams’ success in Pinellas County over the past seven years, touting double-digit year-over-year revenue growth and an increase in the number of youth served per year from 4,100 to 22,000. 

“It’s been really great to see both boards come together with one singular purpose, and that’s what’s doing what’s best for kids,” said Williams. “The challenges that youth face today are extraordinary. They require innovative approaches with new interventions, new operating models and new strategies. We’ll be best equipped to address all these challenges as we work together as a region. We’ll be able to advocate for underserved communities with one powerful voice and bring our collaborations with community partners and the business community to scale.”