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Serving the Town of Stamford, Connecticut
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aoconnell@thestamfordtimes.com
STAMFORD — Eugene Campbell has been named as the new executive director of the Yerwood Center.
Campbell, 51, follows in the footsteps of Deborah Sewell who quit last month, said he is looking forward to taking the reins on May 23.
"I am very excited about coming to Stamford," said Campbell, who worked as director of employment and training at CTE Incorporated, the community action agency for the Greater Stamford Area until 2004. "This is a sort of coming home for me."
Richard Tannenbaum, spokesman for the board of directors, says he is pleased to welcome Campbell to the community. He called Campbell "the complete package" — Campbell, he said has experience with both non-profit management and with programming.
"What really impressed me was his passion for working with kids," said Tannenbaum.
Campbell says he wants to reestablish contact with people in Stamford and on the West Side and see what the community needs and what it wants from its community. Campbell says that the West Side of Stamford has unique challenges: the Haitian Community Center is currently homeless, gang violence is on the rise and many young people who live in the area are without jobs. Campbell would like to try to address these problems, but also wants to know what the community thinks.
"I'd like to have a town hall meeting to talk about things on the West Side," he said.
Campbell, who was hired last week, is the brother of Brenda Culpepper, president of the Yerwood's board of directors.
Sewell, who announced in January that she was leaving the Yerwood for a job in Bélize this summer, had intended to leave the community center on June 30. She changed her mind on April 10 when she discovered that Campbell was one of the candidates being considered for her replacement and cleared out her office on April 11, citing displeasure with the replacement process.
Culpepper has announced that when her brother begins work on May 23, she will step down as head of the board "so there is not a hint of impropriety." Culpepper will, however remain on the board of directors.
Tannenbaum says the board does not want Culpepper to leave completely.
"It would be a great loss to the community," he said.
The Yerwood Center is a 65-year-old community center which is supported by corporate, foundation, and government grants, as well as by the United Way and individual donations.