SASKATOONEXPRESS - March 21-27, 2016 - Page 1
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Volume 14, Issue 11, Week of March 21, 2016
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
YWCA’s Barb Macpherson says it is time for change
Barb Macpherson will hand over the reins at the YWCA after 12 years at the helm. (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson) Ned Powers Saskatoon Express fter nearly 12 years as executive director of YWCA Saskatoon, Barb Macpherson is satisfied that the community is being well-served by the organization’s essential child care, health and wellness, housing and em-
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ployment programs. “If you look back on the history of the YWCA in Saskatoon, it was started with four cots in a cottage as a place where young women could find shelter. The YWCA was built as a response to community needs at the time,” said Macpherson. “The YWCA has never lost sight of the
value of listening to the community needs and each Y in Canada has developed accordingly. Our programs have constantly evolved.” Macpherson is retiring from her position on March 31, proclaiming it is time for a change — for both her and the YWCA.
“It has been an honour to be associated with such an amazing organization and I believe in the work of the YWCA even more today than when I took the position in 2004. It is a good time for new ideas, new eyes and someone with different skill sets.” Macpherson was recruited somewhat reluctantly at the very last moment in October, 2004. She worked in the charitable sector in volunteer services with the Saskatoon Health Region, the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Saskatchewan branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada. “My father was a church minister, and I saw people coming and staying at our home. I learned from watching the actions of my parents and I’ve grown to believe you’re meant to work with certain purposes. “When Anne Campbell left the office, Marcia Clark, then the president of YWCA Saskatoon, asked me to apply. On the last day of competition, she called again. I was fulfilled by other positions but the Y was close to my heart. Anne was a visionary, a warm, people person. She was a builder of the Saskatoon Community Service Village. I was more of an administrator, someone with different skills.” The biggest challenge on the first day was moving from an office with six people to a building with 60-plus full-time and part-time employees. She quickly found out there was a dedicated staff, working under a system which was under-funded, and the challenge, even today, is building financial sustainability. There have been many measuring sticks during Macpherson’s tenure. One of them is the annual YWCA Women of Distinction dinner, which was launched in 1981. In the last five years, the number of award nominees has increased from 20 or 30 to 55; the number of attendees has risen from 500 to more than 800, once hitting 1,000; and the net proceeds have grown from $40,000 to more than $100,000 per dinner. Macpherson likes the concept of the dinner. “The nominees don’t have to be women of power and influence. They come with different gifts. Some aren’t well-known beyond their sphere, but they make important contributions. These women are our neighbours.” (Continued on page 6)
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