Empowering young people and engaging them in safe recreational activities that lead to successful lives is what the community has recognized the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis for over the past 50 years.
To move the organization into its next chapter, it is bringing in a new CEO and president, Brandon Williams. The former St. Louis Rams football player plans to take the organization to new heights with enhanced programming, celebrity pop-ups and more competitive activities.
“I want to incentivize being intellectually competitive or creatively competitive,” Williams, who is a former club member, said. “I want to make sure that people know that we are here, and so once we start doing that, we can attract more eyeballs, we can attract more donors, we can attract more engagement and participation.”
The organization’s longtime leader, Flint Fowler, who started with the organization in 1996, is retiring on Dec. 31. Over the past 28 years, Fowler grew the nonprofit from one location to 11, serving more than 14,000 children. In 1996, it had an annual budget of $800,000; today, it operates with an $8.5 million budget.
However, while those accomplishments are commendable, Fowler said his greatest achievement is seeing how children’s social, emotional, academic and vocational development have been positively impacted by afterschool programming. He also enjoyed developing the Teen Center of Excellence in Ferguson and providing more youth development opportunities across the region.
Fowler hopes Williams carries on the club’s legacy of celebrating youth and building them up to become outstanding leaders.
“I hope that he far exceeds anything that anybody had envisioned or could envision for him at the Boys and Girls Clubs. For a couple reasons, the lives of our kids are at stake, so his success means their success,” Fowler said about Williams. “He's a very capable person who has experienced the power of a Boys and Girls Club … so who better to tell the story than someone who's been there.”
St. Louis Public Radio’s Andrea Henderson spoke with both St. Louisans about their time at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis and how area youth could be better supported.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Andrea Henderson: How did you become involved with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis?
Flint Fowler: I started with the Boys and Girls Clubs following a career basically focused on youth. I ran a program called Upward Bound with St Louis University’s INROADS and a program called Operation Teamwork with the City of St Louis. So, I got a chance to interact with folks at the Boys Club back then — that was at Mathews-Dickey Boys Club with Martin Mathews, at Boys Club of St Louis and at the Herbert Hoover Boys Club, that was under Mike Jones. That was my first real contact with the Boys Club, as they were called back then. Fast forward, I was working at the time, setting up an office for INROADS in Omaha, Nebraska, and the St Louis Public Schools was looking for a new superintendent. They had asked people in the community to come out and be part of that interview process. I did that and ran into a couple of people, in particular, Donald Suggs, the publisher of the St Louis American newspaper. He said, ‘Your name came up at a meeting and they're trying to find a new director for the Herbert Hoover Boys Club, would you be interested?’ And I said, Sure. [I] went through a couple of interviews, went down to the location for a site visit and because of my experiences in working with young people in the past, they thought I would be a good fit.
Brandon Williams: I'm from north city. We kind of moved around a lot when I was born. My core place that I would play sports was Mathews-Dickey. My mom would take me down to Mathews-Dickey, and the first time I went there I was 6. I went to summer camp … and then I started playing football that same fall, but she made sure that I was always down at the club.
Henderson: Brandon, did you ever run into Flint while playing at Mathews-Dickey or any other Boys and Girls Clubs?
Williams: I don't recall meeting Flint as a young man. I kind of knew of him as I got older. I was there from ages 6 to 13. And once you go to high school in north county, you don't really go back to the club as much, because I don't live in the neighborhood. And after that I went to college outside of St Louis, and then once I actually came back, that's when I became more familiar with Flint and the work that he was doing over at Herbert Hoover.
Henderson: Flint, as you reflect on your 28-year career with the Clubs, what accomplishments are you most proud of?
Fowler: I’m most proud of the way we have elevated the importance of out-of-school programming and experiences for children and teens as it substantially and positively impacts their development — socially, emotionally, academically, vocationally. Also, we were able to expand our afterschool and summer programs to other parts of the St. Louis region, particularly developing and operating the Teen Center of Excellence in Ferguson. This expansion has provided more opportunities for those interested in the youth development sector. I enjoyed serving as the lynchpin for several key mergers in the region — St. Louis Internship Program, Mentor St. Louis, Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club and the Boys & Girls Club of Bethalto.
Henderson: Brandon, you have lived many lives. You played in the NFL, have been a sports analyst, an entrepreneur, a financial adviser, and now you are the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis. So many young children in St. Louis will start to look up to you as a mentor and someone who they can mimic their lives after, how does this make you feel?
Williams: That's exactly something that I want to express to them, because I was a kid just like them and now I'm the CEO of this organization. You may see doctors, lawyers, politicians, police officers, firemen, athletes, musicians, entertainers, but you don't just see a CEO that's from where you [are] from, and been where you've been and done some of the same stuff that you've done. So, it is really an honor and a privilege to be able to do that and be able to communicate that.
Henderson: Last year, St. Louis implemented youth recreation after-hours and weekend programs to help curb youth violence. As the new CEO, what do you think should be done to get more children involved in recreational activities like those the Boys and Girls Clubs offer to help minimize youth violence?
Williams: What I really want to focus on is trying to incentivize them to come to the club. I want to elevate the programs that we have by adding some celebrity flavor or some interesting ways that they are administered. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel at all, but I have a network of people who are doing some things all across the world, and they want to come back to St Louis and do cool things with the young people here. I want to create opportunities for them to be competitive. It's something about kids being competitive, not only in just sports, but it can be gaming. It can be art and fashion. It could be in coding. It can be in so many different areas, but I want to incentivize being intellectually competitive or creatively competitive. I want to make sure that people know that we are here, and so once we start doing that, we can attract more eyeballs, we can attract more donors, we can attract more engagement and participation. We are really competing to train them to do something different … and to show them you don't have to engage in violence to reap the benefits and the rewards of a happy, successful life.
Fowler: When I was growing up, your parents told you what to do, so you went where they told you to go. You stayed at home if they told you to stay home. Children these days have access to so much and at a much earlier age than we ever did. I mean, if you think about what's available just on the internet, and the fact that kids are carrying these computers around with them each and every day, there's nothing that they don't have access to. So, they might ask, ‘What are you going to do at the Boys and Girls Clubs that's better than what I can do on my own' or 'What is there to entice me about coming to the Boys and Girls Clubs?’ I'll say, there's some great things happening and things that I think you could benefit from, but we have to be able to show them that. Sometimes it means sitting down and listening to kids and young people about what interests them, and then trying to build those things into your programs and activities.
The other part is accessibility. We've started down this road of putting more clubs in more places that are not necessarily freestanding facilities, like Herbert Hoover and Mathews-Dickey, but schools have tons of space. They have cafeterias, they have libraries, they have gymnasiums, they have classroom space, they have land, athletic fields and they're supported by public dollars. So simply having the custodial staff slightly change their work hours, now that facility can be open. We've done that successfully, so a child does not necessarily have to travel to Kingshighway or to Grand to have that relationship with a club.
Henderson: Flint, you’ve talked about the importance of accessibility to clubs, so since the opening of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis’ Ferguson location, what positive changes have you seen in the youth in the area since the center opened in 2019?
Fowler: Teens are thrilled to have a safe place to play and learn. The Teen Center has served as the operating center for our workforce readiness programs, with a focus on soft-skill development, summer employment, internships, and postsecondary and career planning. I believe that our investment has signaled to the community that the young people deserve the opportunity to succeed and are the foundation for the vibrancy of our community in and of the future.
Henderson: Speaking of the future, what are your hopes for Brandon as he begins his new role?
Fowler: The sky's the limit for Brandon. I hope that he far exceeds anything that anybody had envisioned or could envision for him at the Boys and Girls Clubs. For a couple reasons, the lives of our kids are at stake, so his success means their success. He's a very capable person who has experienced the power of a Boys and Girls Club. I didn't do that. I grew up in scouting, so who better to tell the story than someone who's been there.
Henderson: Brandon, what do you want the region to know about the future of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis?
Williams: It's a safe space for you to be nurtured, to grow in whatever direction you want to grow, whether that's athletics, whether that's in STEM and creative opportunities, whether that's leadership, character development. I'm a really authentic and transparent person … and I want to make sure that as we move forward, the staff that's assembled exudes that openness. I want to do some really amazing things, and I know that it's going to take time. It's not going to all happen in one year or two years. I have a plan that is set out for seven to 10 years, and I think if we execute everything that I have in my head and the vision, I think St Louis will really benefit from it by growing the next generation of leaders.
