Buzz Lambert of Hartfield has been named branch director for both the Mathews Family YMCA and the Middlesex Family YMCA.
Lambert is not new to the Y. He was previously the Middlesex director for six years and also, briefly, as the director for both the Middlesex and Mathews YMCAs.
A member of the Y since 1985, when he attended his first YMCA camp as a 10-year-old in Missouri, Lambert went on to serve a college internship with the Tuckahoe Y while at the University of Richmond. After graduation, he worked in the family business—the Piankatank River Golf Course—before being named branch director at Middlesex in 2005.
After six years, he accepted a position as branch director of the Williamsburg Y and was there until 2013, when he left to rejoin his family’s business. But Lambert said he always stayed in touch with the Y, volunteering for special events, coaching sports, serving on the capital task force.
Lambert said he plans to be on-site in Mathews a lot in the beginning because he doesn’t know the staff there as well as he knows those in Middlesex.
“Trust and respect are built with time,” he said. “You have to be present.”
Rosabeth Kissman, regional executive director of Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA, said that, since Lambert will be handling two YMCAs at one time, “It’s important that there is a robust staff under the position.” She said that there is a shared full-time child care director for the two Ys to provide support, and that the Mathews Y has two capable full-time staff members, as well—Membership Director and Administrative Coordinator Stephanie Decker-Lance and Program Director Blake McIntyre.
Lambert will sometimes spend more time in one of the branches, depending on scheduled activities, she said, adding that his interactions will be “somewhat of an organic process.” At Mathews, he succeeds long-time director Sheila Pillath, who retired.
Among his goals, Lambert said he looks forward to getting out in the Mathews community, meeting county and school officials, and getting to know the members of the Mathews Family YMCA Board of Directors. He said that he wants people to understand that the Y can help make the community stronger. By the same token, he said, “The Y is only as strong as its volunteer leadership.”
He said he’s excited about the prospect of working with Y volunteers who have years of experience.
“They’re going to educate me and work us through to get whatever goals they have accomplished,” he said. “They have hundreds of other civic organizations to put their energy toward, and they choose the Y.”
In addition, Lambert plans on building community participation at the Y and growing staff to fill the needs.
“The great thing about Y staff is there is a mission that attracts passionate and compassionate people,” he said. “When you have that chemistry, everything you’re trying to accomplish is a wonderful journey to be on.”