From Camp Counselor to CEO: Mike LaChance’s Y Journey

This August, Mike LaChance, CEO of the YMCA of Greater Nashua, is retiring after an extraordinary 40-year career with the YMCA, including the past 23 years as CEO.

Mike is originally from Hartford CT and never went to the Y as a child. He grew up loving sports, but after being relocated to PA for high school, he was limited to one sport due to the distance of the school and town from his home. He chose baseball and that decision introduced him to his first mentor, his baseball coach, Fred Light. Coach Light encouraged Mike to value education and even took him on college tours, inspiring him to pursue higher education. He would become the first person in his family to graduate HS and attend college.

Front center (bottom): Mike LaChance, Youth Sports & Camp Director at Lawrence YMCA, 1988

Mike initially majored in Physical Education, because he wanted to coach and teach kids. After a few semesters, however, he realized teaching in a school was not the right fit. Around the same time, his college introduced a new Recreation Management program, and he decided to switch majors. During his very first class, students were assigned an organization by drawing names from a hat. Mike drew the YMCA. As he researched the organization for the assignment, he discovered its scope of services and impact on a community and quickly fell in love with the work it was doing.

That summer, Mike applied to work for the Hartford Y and was hired as a counselor at Holiday Ridge (now Camp Chase) to be a riflery instructor—the only position still available. At the end of the camp season, he was offered an internship by the executive director. He returned the following summer to work at their non-facility YMCA that operated programs in parks, churches, and other community spaces. During his internship, the CEO and COO of the Hartford Y took him under their wing, exposing him to the management and governance side of the organization and giving him valuable experience that helped shape his career.

Two weeks before graduating college, Mike was hired by the Lawrence YMCA as the Youth Sports and Camping Director. Two years later, he was promoted to Senior Program Director, expanding his responsibilities to include all program areas and all program directors and staff. The following year, he was given responsibility for the YMCA’s residence program, which provided housing for individuals experiencing homelessness in an 89-room facility. He was the primary staff person to collect rent, provide job skill training, find them employment, address substance abuse and mental health support and much more. Those years proved to be some of the most formative of his career, teaching him resilience and the handling of some of the most difficult circumstances. Although Mike was eager to continue advancing within the organization, limited leadership opportunities encouraged him to look elsewhere for growth.

That opportunity came at the Nashua YMCA, which at the time operated out of a small downtown building shared with the YWCA. Mike was hired as Branch Executive Director, a role he held for seven years before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Mike was hired just six months after the Y acquired a facility, which became the Merrimack Y. At the time of the acquisition the annual operating budget of the organization was just under $900,000. Today, it is roughly $19M in operations.

Two years after becoming COO, the organization’s longtime CEO retired. Initially, Mike had little interest in pursuing the position, but with encouragement from colleagues, he decided to apply. Although another candidate was selected, that individual served for only six months. The Board of Directors then turned to Mike, hiring him as CEO at just 39 years old.

Over the next 23 years, Mike led the YMCA of Greater Nashua through remarkable growth and transformation. Under his leadership, the organization expanded to three branches, now serves more than 40,000 people each year, and greatly increased its ability to provide programs and services that strengthen the community.

Along the way, Mike also built lifelong relationships. Through the Y, he found lifelong friends, mentors, colleagues, and members who became like family. It was also through the YMCA that he met his wife of 37 years, Sharon. Among the many meaningful relationships he formed was a lasting friendship with longtime YMCA member Earl Prolman.

Now, as he prepares for retirement after four decades of service, Mike is looking forward to spending more time traveling, being with family and friends, and reconnecting with people he hasn’t seen in years. Even in retirement, however, he doesn’t plan to step away completely. He hopes to continue supporting the YMCA movement by mentoring leaders and offering guidance to YMCAs across the country.

While Mike is excited for this next chapter, he knows he will miss the seeing the people each day who have made the YMCA such an important part of his life. After 40 years of serving others, his legacy will not only be measured by the organization’s growth, but by the countless lives he has impacted and the enduring relationships he has built along the way.

Honor Mike’s Legacy by Investing in the Next Generation

For 40 years, Mike LaChance has believed in the power of mentorship, opportunity, and the YMCA to change lives. The Mike LaChance Scholarship Fund carries that legacy forward by helping make the Y accessible to those who need it most. Your gift honors Mike’s commitment to serving others and helps ensure more people have the opportunity to grow, connect, and thrive through the YMCA.

Click Here to make a gift to the Mike LaChance Scholarship Fund today and help continue his legacy of impact.