Fareeda Ehtesham

DIRECTOR
Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Former President and CEO

Since Spillett’s 1996 appointment to the presidency of BGCA, she has led BGCA through a decade of major expansion, implementing a growth strategy that doubled the size and scope of the Boys & Girls Club network and tripled its revenues. Simultaneously, the organization unveiled a dynamic new brand strategy which is heightening the public profile of Boys & Girls Clubs. Today, BGCA ranks among the Top 10 nonprofit brands in America.

Under Spillett, BGCA has created generation-changing initiatives in education, technology, financial literacy and civic engagement. Her proudest accomplishments include uniting Clubs behind a common agenda and helping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Spillett successfully implemented an aggressive and highly focused financial strategy to create new revenue streams for local affiliates and built one of the most prestigious nonprofit boards in America.

Spillett was selected as one of the “Power 50” by The NonProfit Times for three consecutive years. She also received the Excellence in National Executive Leadership Award presented by the National Human Services Assembly. Newsweek has cited Spillett as one of the “15 People Who Make America Great,” part of the magazine’s annual Giving Back Awards.

President George W. Bush appointed Spillett to the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. She is past chairperson for Leadership 18, and serves on the boards of BoardSource and the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University in Atlanta and as a trustee of America’s Promise Alliance.

Spillett earned her bachelor’s degree in education from the State University of New York, and did graduate work in guidance and counseling at St. Lawrence University. She also studied public health administration at Hunter College in New York. Today, she teaches graduate students in the nonprofit management program at the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame.

Spillett has served on the Board since May 2013.

Nisa PatelRoxanne Spillett