Meet new YMCA CEO David Duro

New Treasure Valley Family YMCA CEO David Duro put one thing on his to-do list when he started his job in November, he says.

“No. 1: Replace a legend.”

It sounds impossible, but Duro is up for the challenge.

“Change is hard, and this is the end of an era, but I’m not afraid of that,” he says. “I’m very excited about the Y’s future.”

Duro, 53, started working at the Boise YMCA in 1982 in housekeeping while he was a student at Boise State University, where he majored in economics and political science.

Outgoing CEO Jim Everett hired Duro when Everett was the Y’s interim executive director.

Over the years, Duro zig-zagged his way from janitor to front-desk help, fitness instructor to membership and marketing director.

He left to helm the Y in Port Angeles, Wash., for a few years, but returned to Boise in 1996 as executive director of the Downtown branch. Eventually Duro rose to become the Y’s first COO, a position he held for 17 years.

For the past three years, he’s worked on the national level, while staying in Idaho, as senior resource director. He oversaw at a team that helped YMCAs across a 19-state region maximize their talents and resources.

“I’ve now worked with more than 100 Ys, some of the most challenged and some of the most successful, helping them do it better regardless of their starting point,” Duro says. “It was like getting a Ph.D. in YMCA management.”

The Y job could have been a stopover, Duro says, but he got hooked.

“I get up every day and have the opportunity to make a difference,” Duro says. “This job is not just about making widgets or balancing a spreadsheet. It’s about empowering people to be and do their best.”

“I plan to take everything I’ve learned from Jim and from other Ys and put that into play,” Duro says.

He currently is on a series of listening tours with staff, members, board and the community at large to assess where the Y is at today.

He’s leading the $40 million Comprehensive Campaign that will fund a major expansion of the Y’s footprint into South Meridian, one of the fastest growing and under-served areas of the Treasure Valley.

— Dana Oland

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Meet new YMCA CEO David Duro."