YWCA director retires after 20 years

Photo

Constance Shaffer

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Constance Shaffer has retired as executive director of the YWCA of Youngstown after 20 years with the organization.

The YWCA Board of Directors named Leah Brooks, development director, as interim executive director while a search is conducted for a permanent replacement.

Shaffer said she plans to spend more time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She is president of YWCA of Youngstown Housing LLC, however, and will continue in that capacity.

“Connie’s dynamic leadership over the years has transformed the YWCA from an agency on the brink of financial disaster to an organization capable of molding and moving in the direction of the community’s greatest need,” said Shirley Poindexter, president of the board of directors.

In her tenure as executive director, Shaffer has been at the forefront in identifying the needs of the women in the community and to find solutions to empower them.

She has addressed issues such as the homeless, unemployment, health education and awareness, barriers to self-sufficiency, transportation, opportunities for education and training, and affordable and accessible child care, Poindexter said.

“Among her various achievements at the YWCA, the one Connie values most is her final project — the complete renovation and historic preservation of the century-old YWCA building,” Brooks said.

The major driving force was to preserve the symbol of women’s history in the Mahoning Valley. Since 1996, when the idea for the renovation of the YWCA building on West Rayen Avenue first took root, Shaffer was the driving force behind the project.

“Connie’s vision of transforming the YWCA building into an energy efficient and environmentally friendly structure that would serve the future generation for another century, has now turned into a reality,” Brooks said.

The dedication ceremony for the renovated downtown YWCA building was June 16.

Describing it as a “labor of love,” Shaffer dedicated the renovated YWCA building “to the mission of the YWCA and to the women.”

Brooks described Shaffer as a “great friend, a patient mentor, a charismatic leader and a problem solver of the finest grade, Connie will be greatly missed by the YWCA family.”