Making it Work at Cambridge’s Robbins YMCA with Shania Gregory

As many of our readers know, the Spy has spent a considerable amount of time during the COVID crisis profiling several directors of nonprofit organizations on how they have had to adjust to the new “normal” caused by the pandemic. In most cases, these have been long-tenured, well-seasoned leaders very familiar with the communities they serve. That fact alone has allowed many of them to be uniquely nimble during these extraordinary times.

And yet, there have been a handful of new leaders, beginning their roles in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, and who must move forward without traditional community orientation and with limited training.

One such leader is Shania Gregory. While she has a remarkable history with the YMCA, including childhood memories at the Easton Y, and more recently a long career with YMCA of the Chesapeake, her recent appointment to be the branch director of the Pauline F. and W. David Robbins Family YMCA in Cambridge just happened in July of last year.

But as the Spy discovered in our recent interview with her, Shania, like all her colleagues at the YMCA of the Chesapeake, is not easily discouraged. She talks to us about how she and her team are making it work at Robbin as Shania continues to wait for the day when she starts meeting her new community in Dorchester County.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about the Pauline F. and W. David Robbins Family YMCA in Cambridge please go here.