Kirkland's Friends Of Youth Gets New CEO

From Friends of Youth: The Board of Trustees of Friends of Youth announces that Terry Pottmeyer is departing as Chief Executive Officer, effective February 4, 2019. Terry has played a vital role in furthering the mission, vision and values of Friends of Youth and the Board is grateful for her exemplary service. Under her nine years of leadership the agency grew from $8M to $17M, increased our commitment and programming to address youth and young adult homelessness, expanded our extended foster care program for refugee and immigrant youth, increased behavioral health access, including integration with physical healthcare and launched our WISe/Wraparound services. During her tenure we completed a $7M capital campaign resulting in seven new buildings, opened a new office in North Bend, and expanded capacity for both our under 18 shelter and our young adult shelter, the Landing. She was appointed by the County Executive to serve on King County’s Youth Action Plan Committee, its Health & Human Services Transformation Plan Committee, and most recently completed a three-year term on the Children & Youth Advisory Board, which oversees the County’s Best Start for Kids and Youth Action Plans.

Terry’s transition is a considered a response to the Board and agency’s commitment to ensure that the leadership of our agency reflects the community we serve. She was an active participant in identifying and supporting the selection of our new CEO, Paul Lwali.
The Board is thrilled to welcome Paul to our team. He most recently served as the Senior Executive Director for North Region of the YMCA of Greater Seattle, where he increased equity and inclusion among YMCA members and created new strategic partnerships both locally and internationally. He has served as the Executive for many YMCA branches across the country, including the Bellevue YMCA where he created innovative programming for special needs participants, partnered with other non-profits and school districts on addressing out of school issues, and helped forge new and positive relations with various ethnic and religious groups.

“I am excited by the opportunity to lead Friends of Youth, an important and impactful Eastside agency, to a future where all children have what they need to succeed. I will continue to strive to make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable youth while deepening the agency’s work on diversity, equity and inclusion.” — Paul Lwali, CEO, Friends of Youth.

Image via Friends of Youth