Roxanne Spillett
President of Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Health and Life Skills

Roxanne Spillett heads the nation’s fastest-growing youth development organization with a primary focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. BGCA now serves more than 4.6 million girls and boys through some 4,000 affiliates in the United States, and on military bases in Europe and Asia.

Spillett has led BGCA through a period of dramatic growth, with particular emphasis on serving children in nontraditional environments, including public housing and Native American lands. One of her most noteworthy achievements was the initiation of a unique partnership with the Department of Defense to charter Boys & Girls Clubs on some 432 U.S. military bases worldwide.

Under Spillett’s leadership, BGCA has created generation-changing initiatives in education, technology and cultural diversity; while helping Clubs increase their capacities in technology, human resources, and board and resource development. Additionally, Spillett has built one of the most prestigious and engaged nonprofit boards in America. Her proudest accomplishments include uniting Clubs behind a common agenda and creating value for Clubs.

In recognition for her achievements, Spillett was selected for the last three years as one of the “Power 50” by The Non-Profit Times, and received the Excellence in National Executive Leadership Award presented by the National Human Services Assembly. Most recently, Spillett and BGCA were cited by Newsweek (July 2006) as “15 People Who Make America Great,” part of the magazine’s annual Giving Back Awards.

Her 1996 appointment to the presidency of BGCA marks a career spanning more than 25 years in Boys & Girls Club work.

Spillett joined BGCA in 1978 as director of the National Health Project. Within one year, she was promoted to director of program services, responsible for the development and implementation of numerous national youth development programs.

In 1991, Spillett became BGCA’s assistant national director for Program Services, and led the “Commitment to Quality” process to ensure the effectiveness of program and service delivery in Clubs nationwide. Spillett emphasized the development of new program resources, including successful initiatives in education, career exploration, drug prevention, literacy, conflict resolution and other educational programming.

Spillett also served as vice president of BGCA’s Northeast regional office, managing all programs and services throughout the 11-state area, raising funds and building a Northeast trustee board.

In recent years, she has received a number of honorary doctorate degrees – one in laws from the University of Notre Dame and two in the humanities – from Trinity College in Hartford and Marian College in Indianapolis.

In December 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Spillett to the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, which promotes volunteerism, community service and good citizenship. In addition, Spillett teaches MBA candidates at the University of Notre Dame, focusing on nonprofit board management; she also sits on the board at the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University in Atlanta. She served as past chairperson for “Leadership 18,” an alliance of executives from the nation’s most influential nonprofits, and serves on the board of the National Human Services Assembly -- an association of the nation’s leading national non-profits in the fields of health, human and community development, and human services -- and BoardSource, a premier resource for board members of nonprofit organizations worldwide.

Spillett earned her bachelor of arts degree in education from the State University of New York and did graduate work in guidance and counseling at St. Lawrence University. In addition, she studied public health administration at Hunter College in New York.