Nonprofit CEO/Executive Director of the Year: Brandy Harris

When Brandy Harris began her role as CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield Inc. in 2019, she had a mental image of what she thought a CEO should look like. “I even made a Pinterest board, trying to figure out what a CEO wore, what does a CEO say in a meeting,” she says.

It wasn’t until an encounter with one of the club’s members that Harris says she knew what that looked like for her. “This little girl, around 7 years old, comes up to me and asks who I am,” Harris says. Harris told her she was the CEO and described it as being someone who cared a lot about kids and made sure they all had fun at the club. When the girl responded, “I want to be a CEO, too,” Harris says it was a pivotal moment. “That girl saw a leader, and a leader that looked like her. I want kids to know they can be whatever they want to,” she says.

Harris’ leadership journey started as a high school student at Hillcrest, where she says her teachers and counselors saw past her life’s challenging circumstances and gave her the confidence to explore leadership opportunities. “I never thought I could lead until teachers started pouring that energy into me,” Harris says. “It was so important because this would not be my story if I didn’t have that early support.”

After graduating from Drury, Harris taught at Hillcrest before moving to Lawrence, Kansas, working at a local chapter of Boys & Girls Clubs as an Americorps staff  member and unit director. “About six weeks on the job, I knew this is it for me,” she says, adding that it included the best parts of teaching and positively supporting kids and was what she had needed herself at that age. “I didn’t expect to come back to Springfield and become CEO at 32.”

Under Harris’ leadership, BGCS has expanded its reach by opening four new clubs across Springfield and has effectively advocated to include 5-year-old kindergartners, which directly impacts 200 families. Next year, the organization will open the Risdal Family Teen Center for Great Futures, a state-of-the-art facility offering a range of services and programs to support academic achievement, career readiness, and personal development among middle and high school students. Harris says this wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and support of the community, partners, staff, board and volunteers.

“The strength and success of the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield are built on the collective contributions of a passionate and committed team,” she says.

What is your philosophy on nonprofit service?
“There’s no recipe for being a CEO, and once I embraced that, I knew I could be the right leader for this organization.” —Brandy Harris