Tampa nonprofits sign joint agreement, name CEO to oversee both

Two Tampa area nonprofits aimed at helping young people are joining forces.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay have signed a joint service agreement and appointed a single president and CEO, Freddy Williams, to oversee both operations.

The shared agreement will allow the clubs, which work in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties, to help the young people that rely on their services together.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the clubs say they have been partnering up for years but in June the two boards began meeting to “assess the legal, cultural and best practices of a combined effort.” They were helped in that work by the national organization — the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

What they found was that there “were significant synergies that will allow us to collectively expand our reach to address unmet demand for our services, while retaining and deepening engagement with current members across the Tampa Bay Region,” Elizabeth Constantine, chair of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast’s board, says in the statement.

But the agreement also has operational and administrative implications and “enhances efficiency, clarity and staff growth potential, while powerfully leveraging our combined resources,” says Matt Dumar, chair of the Tampa Bay club.

According to its 2022 Form 990 posted on the nonprofit research company Candid GuideStar’s website, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay has $18 million in total assets. The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast’s 990 for the same period shows it has $3.3 million in total assets.

Williams, a Boys & Girls Clubs alum and a member of Business Observer's 2022 40 Under 40 class, has been president and CEO of the Suncoast club for seven years. He is also the national chairman of the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s professional association.

“The challenges youth face today are extraordinary, requiring innovative approaches with new interventions and strategies," he says in the statement. "We will be best equipped to address these challenges working together as a region with a regional focus."