The Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties (BGCVFC) have a new CEO coming on, the agency announced late last week. Dr. Camesha Whittaker-Samuel will be coming on to helm the program following controversy over their previous CEO’s financial management. Her tenure started on Monday.
The organization’s previous CEO, Joe Sullivan, started the organization in 1992 years ago and was its chief executive for the three-plus decades that followed. Last year Sullivan’s handling of grant money came under scrutiny, with almost $16,000 allegedly being misused. Sullivan fired the staff member who raised concerns, the group’s then-Chief Operating Officer.
“I am honored to serve and lead the Boys & Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties as CEO,” Whittaker-Samuel said. “This organization represents hope, opportunity, and transformation for the young people in this community. I am committed to advancing our mission by expanding future-focused programs, strengthening community partnerships, and fostering innovation to ensure every child has the resources to thrive.”
Dr. Whittaker-Samuel’s Background
Prior to becoming only the second CEO in the history of the BGCVFC, Whittaker-Samuel worked in Atlanta as the Chief Learning and Innovation Officer for the Propel Center, according to a statement detailing her hiring. Here, she helped implement programs providing technical education to students at historically Black colleges and universities. She also worked in Sanford with Advance Civility Enterprises, and as the Director of the B.J. Moore Center for Faculty Innovation and as an associate professor at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.
Years before working there, Whittaker-Samuel earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from B-CU, before then obtaining her Master of Arts in Public Communication from American University. Her educational career concluded with a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Regent University in 2010.
“I am fully confident she is the right leader to support our organization as we move forward,” said BGCVFC Board Chair Jaime Bracero. “Camesha, along with our organization, will be singularly focused on having an even greater impact on the children we serve.”
What is the Boys & Girls Club?
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a non-profit founded in 1860 to make after-school programs available for youth through regional chapters. The first club was founded in Hartford, Connecticut 165 years ago, before becoming a national entity in 1906. The nationwide Boys Club of America program was founded in 1940, by former President Herbert Hoover and a coalition of public sector officials and philanthropists. It was followed by the Boys & Girls Club of America in 1990.
By the 21st century, the BCGA has grown to thousands of locations across the United States and its territories. A number of American cultural icons attended a Boys & Girls Club in their youth, including musicians Smokey Robinson, Usher, and Katy Perry, athletes Magic Johnson, Shaun White, and Sugar Ray Leonard, and actors Adam Sandler, Martin Sheen, and Denzel Washington.
