Kim Brumber Becomes New Leader of Volunteers of America Upstate New York

Volunteers of America Upstate New York (VOAUPNY) is pleased to announce that Kim Brumber has joined the organization as its new President and CEO. Ms. Brumber started her new role in September.

Ms. Brumber is an accomplished leader who previously served as the President and CEO of NeighborWorks Community Partners Inc.Ms. Brumber led the merger of four community development organizations (Niagara Falls Neighborhood Housing Services, NeighborWorks Rochester, West Side Neighborhood Housing Services and Black-Rock Riverside Neighborhood Housing Services), into a regional organization that delivers comprehensive housing and community development services to revitalize communities throughout western New York State. Ms. Brumber was appointed to lead the consolidated organization in January 2015 after helping to spearhead a multi-year planning effort.

Prior to leading NeighborWorks Community Partners Inc., Ms. Brumber was the CEO of NeighborWorks Rochester, where she started in May 1999 as a community planner, developing and implementing a pilot neighborhood revitalization initiative. Two years later, Ms. Brumber was named by the board as its executive, and oversaw the organization's rebranding and transformation into an organization that grew from $1.7 million in assets to more than $8 million in assets and leveraged $53 million in local investment from 2011 - 2014. Her hallmark as a non-profit CEO is her entrepreneurial approach and moving NeighborWorks Rochester to a business model in which the organization generated 65% of its own revenue through social enterprise ventures. Before joining NeighborWorks Community Partners Inc., Ms. Brumber held operations and sales management positions in the private sector. She has a background in mortgage lending, construction, real estate development and education.

Coming to VOA, Ms. Brumber is determined to push the organization to be exceptional in helping people truly transform their lives while determining where we can improve the organization's services."I think the biggest thing that I can contribute is to really explore where there are gaps that are unmet, and can we or can we not develop programs or strategies that address those gaps in the communities we have the opportunity to serve."

Ms. Brumber has a Bachelor's of Arts Degree from St. John Fisher College, and she completed the Executive Leadership Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.She has been a presenter on market-based revitalization strategies at the New York State Conference of Mayors, Main Street Conference; The New York State Credit Union League's Annual Conference; and other venues. In addition, Ms. Brumber served on a number of varying committees, including the Finance Committee for St. Mark's and St. John's Episcopal Church, the Fund the Fix Committee of the Lead Coalition in Monroe County, and operated as the Board President of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley.Once asked about the number of committees she has been a part of, Ms. Brumber stated that diversity is integral to the value system and success of the Upstate New York's community organization."I want to make sure that [VOA's value of diversity] is not just words on a paper - that we live that every day here."

Ms. Brumber was selected as Volunteers of America Upstate New York's new President and CEO after a national search was conducted by the agency's Board of Directors.The Board began its search in February, and Ms. Brumber was selected in July.

"Kim comes to us at a very exciting time in VOAUPNY's history," notes Jim Sperry, VOAUPNY Board Chair. "Over the past two years, we have been restructuring the agency to enable it to focus on those programs that bring the most value to our clients. With the restructuring complete, Kim's first priority will be to build the strategic plan that best aligns VOAUPNY's strengths and resources with opportunities for growth in our communities. With her experience and leadership, Kim will be an excellent complement to our exceptionally talented and seasoned management team. We are very fortunate that Kim's career arc intersects with VOAUPNY at this moment in our history."

Ms. Brumber is excited for the opportunities we have as an organization."I think there's a lot of untapped potential, and being able to kind of unwrap and unleash that and be able to put it to good use or better use, that's exciting."