Greater Valley YMCA CEO to retire

After 36 years of service, the president and CEO of the Greater Valley YMCA has announced his retirement. 

David Fagerstrom will transition to a consultant role effective September 2023.  

“I have had the privilege of being part of the YMCA movement for the last 35+ years, the last twenty as a YMCA CEO. It has been quite the journey, made possible by working with great coworkers, dedicated volunteers, amazing community leaders, and inspiring Y-peers”, said Fagerstrom. “Together, we all make up a wonderful fraternity of people that are making our planet a better place to live, one community, one family, one person at a time. My sincere thanks to all who have helped advance our Y’s Mission these past years. We’ve come such a long way together.”  

Fagerstrom has served in various leadership roles at YMCAs throughout the country. He has led the Greater Valley YMCA since August 2016.  

He was originally tasked to create one strong organization from the six once-independent YMCA Branches located in Allentown, Bethlehem, Catasauqua, Easton, Nazareth and Pen Argyl.  

Peter Dent, chief volunteer officer and president of the Greater Valley YMCA Board of Directors, said that after September, Fagerstrom will stay on in a consulting role, to ensure that several major projects and partnership projects, such as the Saucon Creek YMCA Branch, will come to fruition.  

“Since Dave joined us in 2016, the Y has transformed into something our community can rely on now and for future generations,” said Dent. “Our staff and volunteer teams have bloomed. We’ve pivoted our strategic focus to include more social programs such as food insecurity, housing, and childcare. We’ve established some great strategic partners. We’re also currently completing $15,000,000 worth of building renovations. While we are sad to see Dave leave this role, the board also understands that we were fortunate to benefit from his leadership during some very critical and difficult years. We also want to assure our community that we have a good process in place to find a new leadership to serve with the same passion.”