LA Y All Staff Newsletter

On March 29th, Victor Dominguez was announced as the 13th President & CEO of the LA Y. Victor’s leadership and dedication to strengthening communities has provided inspiration to countless individuals and organizations over his 20+ years with the Y. Although Victor is known for his role in creating the Cradle to Career initiative, the Achieve LA program and the expansion of the early learning and PLAY programs, there is much more to this dynamic leader than his Y accomplishments. Read on for 3 facts about our fearless leader then catch our full interview with him on the first episode of the Better Together podcast.

1. Victor's favorite team is the LA Dodgers, but his favorite football team isn't based in So Cal...
2. Growing up, Victor had quite a few siblings. Can you guess how many?
3. In high school, Victor was an all-CIF athlete. Any guesses on the sport?

For more on our new President & CEO, including what he's most excited about in his new role and why red is his favorite color, listen now!

It's time for a glow up! In the Spring of 2021, the LA Y’s first digital newsletter created exclusively for staff was launched and has since connected thousands of LA Y team members. “Onward”, the title of the newsletter, reflected past President & CEO Alan Hostrup’s favorite email sign-off. Signaling this next phase of our Y, we’re excited to share that the newsletter will be renamed and we want your help!

Submit your newsletter name ideas by September 30th. If your newsletter name is selected, you’ll receive a Kooltunes by Igloo cooler with wireless Bluetooth connectivity and a weather-resistant exterior!

YPN, the YMCA Professional Network, is a membership-based professional development network that aims to empower all levels of Y team members. YPN memberships provides opportunities for leadership, peer-to-peer & individual learning and mentorship. While a basic level YPN membership is always free to all Y staff, the top-tier YPN Prime membership typically has an annual fee. For the rest of 2022, however, Y-USA is offering no-cost YPN Prime Memberships for all Y team members. Take advantage of YPN Prime for access to discounted chapter events, the Leadership Journey webcasts and several YPN eLearnings like "How to Prepare and Deliver a Personal Elevator Speech" and "YPN's Guide to Networking". For more info on opportunities to get involved in our local chapter, please contact Rae Jin, Executive Director of the Anderson-Munger Y AND the President of our own local YPN, Chapter 81!

As part of the launch of the Social-Emotional Well-Being Initiative (SEWBI), the LA Y committed to an all-staff survey in late 2021 in order to better understand the effects of stress on our Y team members. The goal of the SEWBI at the LA Y is to positively address the mental health and well-being of our team and community members. La Maida Project, the LA Y’s mental health partner for the SEWBI, supported by developing, administering, and analyzing the survey. The results that follow reflect a snapshot of the survey; please click here to view the full survey results.

83% of survey respondents expressed feeling supported by their supervisors

79% of respondents generally felt that their voices were valued with 77% feeling that their contributions were recognized

53% of survey respondents reported that heavy workloads, job insecurity, new or expanded job responsibilities, poor communication from LA Y leadership and technology overload at the Y were recent contributors of stress

57% of respondents were hesitant to discuss their well-being concerns within the current environment

A significant finding from the survey was that while the LA Y provides a number of resources to support workers’ health and well-being, many staff members are not aware of them, and not utilizing them. Only about half of respondents (49%) said they were aware of Association resources while the vast majority of people who had used resources (91%) found them helpful

For additional SEWB resources, please visit HealthAdvocate to connect with our Employee Assistance Program.