MEET SARA COLE, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE DULUTH AREA FAMILY YMCA

By Alison Stucke

It’s a new day at the Duluth Area Family YMCA. Yes, the Y still devotes itself to strengthening our community through programs dedicated to youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. The non-profit continues its commitment to inclusion in which everyone is welcome, and all programs and membership are available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

But now, the Y has a woman in its lead position. On Nov. 1, Sara Cole started in her job there as president and CEO. She is the first female to serve in this position since the Y began serving the Duluth community in 1870. Cole has a fascinating message to share about today’s YMCA.

Cole has “fallen in love with the Y”

Cole came here from the YMCA of Greater Rochester, located in Western New York. She started her career with the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati.

“By education I’m a professor of literature and feminist theory,” she explained, “but I’ve fallen in love with the Y and never looked back. Part of the reason is the Y’s mission statement which includes the words ‘for all.’ It’s a promise for the work that we do — that it’s for everyone. That’s the thing I love most about the Y — the promise of service to all people.”

Cole helps carry out that promise each day at the Duluth

Y, remembering the sign hung in the front doorway of the Y’s building at 302 W. 1st St. in downtown Duluth which states: “We welcome all sizes, all colors, all genders, all beliefs, all religions, all types, all people. Welcome to the YMCA. You belong here.”

“Everyone is welcome, and everyone is celebrated here,” she said. “The Y has a radically inclusive mission. We’re deeply committed to diversity and inclusion.”

A servant-leader, serving her team and the community

In her job, Cole views herself, first and foremost, as a servant-leader of the Y’s staff of 800 employees.

“In my position, I provide the most service, not the least, to my team,” she said. That internal service then is carried outward to the community.

“At the heart of all this, I want to ask the question, ‘How can we serve the community?’” she said. “How can we be good neighbors?”

Cole said that answer is always changing over time.

“We work to be very limber and to change with the needs of the community,” she said. “I’m lucky to get to do what I feel passionate about and to work alongside many folks who love to serve the community in health and wellness work.”

No toxic messages about exercise or body image allowed

One important task in today’s fitness environment, Cole said, is to avoid sending toxic and punitive messages.

“We don’t talk about brokenness or shaming when we talk about bodies, and we don’t sell our programs by talking about weight loss,” she explained. “Instead we talk about joy in movement, strength, confidence and fun. It’s very important that people can come here to play and find fun in movement. We need to capture that again as adults.”

Cole said that children commonly experience this joy in movement, but many adults have lost it because they have learned to feel shame regarding their bodies. Getting the message out that movement should be joyful for everyone is important, she said.

“It’s good work to do. It definitely needs to be done,” she said.

The Y does work that is known and work that is less known

Most people know the YMCA has a building downtown with a swimming pool, running track and workout room. But the Y does many things that people don’t necessarily know about, Cole said.

“We do work that is more traditionally known and some that is news to folks,” she said.

Did you know the Y is one of the nation’s top providers of childcare? Or that the Y offers many swim education classes, and is the largest provider of First Aid and CPR Training?

Here in Duluth, did you know the YMCA, in partnership with the city of Duluth, provides lifeguards at Park Point on

Lake Superior?

“This makes me very proud,” Cole said. “We want people to access the lake and to be safe while they do it.”

Other work done by the YMCA might be news to you. For example, Cole said many people don’t know that the Y serves thousands of meals each year to youth living in poverty.

“The Y also sponsors a Weekend Food Backpack program, and we’re very lucky to provide memberships to individuals and families experiencing homelessness,” Cole said. “We are proud to host Miracle League, a baseball league for youth with diverse abilities. We also facilitate an AmeriCorps program in which community members can provide key services to communities throughout the Northland to earn dollars for education.”

A long history of service

The YMCA’s history might also surprise you. This year marks the 175th anniversary of the launching of the YMCA as a volunteer-led movement in London. At that time, the YMCA’s focus areas included helping with language services and providing places to live.

Y-led programs for immigrants, students and AfricanAmericans soon started in the U.S. In the 1860s, YMCA housing was started to provide affordable lodging for young men moving from rural areas into cities. Facilities were built that included hotel-style rooms, gymnasiums and auditoriums. In 1940, the YMCA had 100,000 rooms across the nation.

While the Y has been serving the Duluth community since 1870, it began its services without an official building. In 1966, the current YMCA branch building was built in downtown Duluth.

Today’s Duluth Area Family YMCA

Cole’s leadership portfolio includes the Downtown Duluth Y; a second full membership branch in Grand Marais, Minn., that opened in 2012; a Community Services Branch located in Harbor Highlands; and Camp Miller, the 121-year-old resident camp on Sturgeon Lake. The Duluth Area Family YMCA also provides service to Virginia, Minn., and to the Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

“In October of this year, our newest branch, the YMCA at the Essentia Wellness Center, will open on the corner of Arrowhead and Ugstad Roads in Hermantown in partnership with Essentia Health, the city of Hermantown, and Hermantown City Schools,” Cole added. “The new branch is open to all current Duluth YMCA members, and we look forward to serving people throughout southern St. Louis County. Thanks to national reciprocity, your Duluth Area Family YMCA membership will grant you access to Ys across the country.”

Come check out the Y Cole welcomes everyone to check out the Y and to fall in love with the YMCA just as she did. D

Alison Stucke is a Duluth freelance writer and frequent contributor to The Woman Today.

By Molly Milroy