Rebuilding and growing The Boys and Girls Club new leadership
View story at The News & Advance...In five months time, top leadership at the Boy and Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg has changed with the February hiring of CEO Scott McCurley and the July hiring of Club Director Desmond Mosby.
With two decades of experience in education, including his tenure as the academic dean at New Covenant School in Lynchburg, McCurley has stepped into this role with a clear vision and a deep commitment to the youth of the community.
“We live in a world where the circumstances into which a young person is born too often determine their access to experiences or opportunities,” McCurley said. “The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg exists to change that reality, and I am all-in on making this institution thrive in fulfilling its mission.”
For Mosby, the Boys & Girls Club is more than just a job — it’s a calling. As a Lynchburg native, he said he has spent much of his life dedicated to youth development and community building.
With a background that includes serving as the program coordinator for the T.A.P.S/Good Gangs Initiative and holding various roles at the University of Lynchburg, he brings both passion and experience in his new role as club director.
The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg, like many other Clubs across the nation, provides a vital resource for the community’s youth, offering a safe space for children aged 6 to 18 to learn, grow and thrive.
Through the particular efforts of Louis Robinson and the founding board of directors, and the generosity of T.D. Thorton, owner of the Club-site building, the Lynchburg BGC was founded over 18 years ago, bringing both a safe place and quality programming to the youth of the city.
The Lynchburg BGC has served more than 4,000 young people, McCurely said. The Club remained a place of stability, even staying open during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the Club has faced its own challenges recently. After the previous CEO left in May, the Club was without executive leadership for several months. During this time, the board of directors played a crucial role in maintaining operations, McCurley said.
Now, with McCurley at the helm, the focus is on rebuilding and expanding the Club’s impact.
“Desmond, I, and others on staff are working to rebuild the systems, structures, programming knowledge base and training programs needed to support growth,” McCurley said. “Our intention is to grow our daily impact three to four times its current levels.”
Mosby said there was a network of supportive individuals who helped guide him through life.
“This always centers around ‘village’ for me,” he said. “The old saying ‘it takes a village’ is ever more evident now than it has ever been. As a young man, I had a great support system — my grandparents, my mom, a host of aunts and uncles. It was truly a community of individuals who guided me through my journey and to this point. All my life, I have determined to be that for other young people.”
Now, as the club director, he is focused on giving back to the community he loves by helping to develop its future.
He said the club is perfectly situated in the heart of the city, surrounded by neighborhoods such as Shalom Apartments, College Hill, Diamond Hill, Federal Hill and White Rock Hill. This location offers a unique opportunity to make an impact on the youth in these areas.
“I can’t stress enough how great of a time it is to be at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg,” he said.
The Club offers a wide range of programs designed to support four key areas of youth development: academic success, healthy lifestyles, character and citizenship and life and workforce readiness. These programs open doors of opportunity for young people — doors that might not be available to them without the Club’s support.
“We provide doors of opportunities for young people,” McCurley said. “They must choose to walk through them, but sometimes, through no fault of their own, the doors just aren’t there for them without the work of an institution like the BGCA.”
See story at The News & Advance...The community plays a vital role in the Club’s success, he added. Over the years, more than 500 volunteers have contributed their time and expertise to the Lynchburg Club. Additionally, the Club hosts interns and work-study students from both Liberty University and the University of Lynchburg. The Club also invites adults from the community to share their experiences with teens as part of the Life & Workforce Readiness initiative.
Financial sustainability is a concern for the Club, as it relies heavily on the generosity of local corporate and individual donors. Unlike some organizations, membership fees at the Club are kept to a minimum to make sure that all young people can participate, regardless of their financial situation. For example, the cost for seven weeks of summer camp was just $30, McCurley said.
The Club’s mission to help kids succeed in today’s world is supported by its evidence-based programming, created by the Boys & Girls Club of America.
“We have wonderful programming that is evidence-based, but what we have that is even greater are staff who are committed to building relationships with our young people,” Mosby said. “Great programming without a caring staff is just that. We feel we have the formula to bridge the two together.”
In addition to fostering strong relationships between staff and youth, he said he is excited about collaborating with other organizations to maximize the Club’s impact.
“We are excited to collaborate with other organizations to have the greatest impact that we can on youth in Lynchburg and its surrounding areas,” he said.
