Scott Wrobbel
Milwaukee managing partner
Deloitte LLP
Nonprofit served: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee
Service: Board chair
Selecting a new leader for an organization is one of the biggest tasks a nonprofit board undertakes.
Scott Wrobbel, Milwaukee managing partner at Deloitte LLP, stepped into his role as board chair of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee right in time to take on that challenge last fall.
Wrobbel was appointed just months before Vincent Lyles, the organization’s president and chief executive officer of seven years, announced his resignation in September 2018.
The Boys & Girls Clubs quickly launched a national search for Lyles’ successor.
“As one of largest clubs in country and the largest youth-serving in Milwaukee, it’s an important role,” Wrobbel said. “We joked when we first started that we needed (to find) a unicorn because we have such high expectations. (The president and CEO) needs to lead a strong team of an 800-person organization; be a great manager who has the ability to connect with our constituents, kids and families, and guardians; be an external face of the clubs in the marketplace; and actively work with the board chair in terms of managing and governing the trustees. It’s a long list of attributes and characteristics.”
Wrobbel has seen the leadership transition as an opportunity for him to help further the organization’s mission of serving the city’s youth.
Wrobbel grew up on Milwaukee’s northwest side, attended Milwaukee Public Schools during his grade school years and has spent his entire professional career in the city. Boys & Girls Clubs’ mission drew him to the organization’s board nine years ago.
“It’s focused on children,” he said. “Some will say we’re actually saving lives every day, when you look at the at-risk population we serve. We are providing safety, a safe place for children, especially during the critical after-school hours, a healthy environment, meals, a focus on building character and development, and helping kids with their academic success … All of that draws me to the organization.”
Chairing the board is no small task, Wrobbel said. So far, it has involved working with donors, searching for a new leader, and continuing the ongoing work of charting a future that balances the organization’s long heritage, while also maintaining its relevance.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind first seven months,” he said.
In February, the organization completed one of those tasks when it named retail executive Kathy Thornton-Bias as its new president and chief executive officer.
“We were very fortunate to have had a tough choice to make among our candidates, but we knew (Thornton-Bias) was the right choice to lead us,” Wrobbel said. “In all of our conversations, her past experiences were never about her, they were all about the organization she worked for and its people. She will very quickly be seen as a respected voice for our people and the kids in the City of Milwaukee.”
