Old Colony YMCA Announces New President and CEO

Charlie Clifford

BROCKTON, MA - Old Colony YMCA (OCY) is pleased to announce that veteran YMCA leader Charles R. Clifford has been selected as the new President and CEO following an extensive search conducted by a team of former Old Colony YMCA Board chairs, and veteran volunteers.

“Charlie is a proven Y leader who is committed to our mission, committed to the staff and communities he serves, and he has seen great success in growing membership and donations, leading social service programs and managing a thriving childcare program,” said Eli Florence, OCY Chair. “We interviewed excellent candidates for this job – internal and external – and Charlie stood out. We look forward to his start next month.”

Charlie begins work February 6. Vincent Marturano, who has served the OCY for 30 years, is stepping down after leading the organization for three decades. OCY has 8 full-facility branch locations, 4 summer camps, 40 child care locations, 1,800 employees, 48,000 members, and provides not just gyms and fitness locations but job training, mental health counseling for at-risk youth, and family homeless shelters across a wide swath of Southeastern Massachusetts.

“The Old Colony YMCA is a nationally-recognized leader in fitness, nutrition, childcare and social services – I am thrilled to be joining the team,” said Clifford. “I look forward to sitting down with board members, staff and volunteers to continue the work Vin has done, and to forge a blueprint for an even more robust and dynamic future in communities all across Southeastern Massachusetts.”

Clifford has served as CEO of the YMCA of Pawtucket since 2015, leading a $15 million organization with 20,000 members, a staff of 450, five branch YMCAs and 22 licensed childcare facilities. Prior to the pandemic, Charlie led Pawtucket to significant growth in membership and reached new fundraising milestones. During the pandemic, Charlie partnered with the state and Pawtucket area communities as a leader in health initiatives while guiding the shutdown and reopening of facilities, ultimately returning to nearly full pre-pandemic membership.

Prior to heading the YMCA of Pawtucket, Charlie served in leadership roles at the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA and the New Canaan YMCA and as Development Officer at Yale New Haven Hospital.

For the last two decades, Charlie has served communities in Rhode Island and Connecticut in numerous board and volunteer positions, including with the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, United Way and as a member of the State of Rhode Island Childcare Commission. Charlie graduated from York College with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and received a master’s degree in Business Administration from Southern Connecticut State University.

Charlie and his wife Holly, a pharmaceutical scientist, have two teenage children, Quinn and Noah. He and his family are looking forward to engaging with the greater Brockton community and getting to know the Old Colony Y network of staff, volunteers, and supporters.

“I want to welcome Charlie. He is joining a family of dedicated, determined and hard-working professionals,” said outgoing President and CEO Vincent Marturano. “Everything I see in Charlie’s background, and in his personal makeup, bodes well for the Y, for the staff, and for the thousands of people that we serve.”