In July 2023, Bertram L. Lawson, II began his newest chapter in the YMCA movement, stepping into the role of President and CEO of YMCA of Greater Brandywine (YGBW). 

Throughout a career spanning nearly three decades, Lawson has served at YMCAs across the eastern region, developing a reputation as a prolific leader, a skilled businessman, and a strong advocate for education and youth development.  

Assuming his new role at YGBW represents a full-circle moment for the executive.  

North Philadelphia, Born and Raised 

Lawson was born in 1975 at Temple University, which some classify as the heart of North Philadelphia. He classifies himself as a “second-generation Philadelphian” as both of his parents are also from North Philadelphia. 

One of Lawson’s fondest memories is spending time with his maternal grandmother and playing basketball, football, freeze tag, and various other games with the other children who lived nearby in that North Philadelphia neighborhood. 

He spent much of his childhood in North Philadelphia before moving on to junior high school in the Northeast.  

“That was around a time when a lot of kids were being bused out of their neighborhood to different parts of Philadelphia for education. And my mom wanted me to go to a school in the Northeast because she felt as though it was a better education,” said Lawson during an interview. 

Lawson went on to attend the prestigious Central High School of Philadelphia and is a member of its 252nd graduating class. Afterward, Lawson matriculated to Chester County to attend Lincoln University.

That was the beginning of his connection to Chester County. 

Chester County Bound 

Attending an HBCU was a life-changing experience for Lawson. Both figuratively and literally, Lawson felt like he could reach for the stars at Lincoln.

“It was the first time that I was in a school environment that was geared towards students who looked like me, but came from places as far away as California, Alaska or Ghana, Nigeria,” he said.

“I never even thought about going to school with students from those places,” he added. 

Ultimately, the HBCU gave Lawson a space to not just be himself, but also learn more about who he was as an individual – and as part of a community.  

Lawson spent five years at Lincoln, first earning a degree in history and staying an additional year to complete his degree in secondary education.  

Discovering the YMCA 

During college, Lawson worked at various jobs, including at a sneaker store, supermarket, a sporting goods store, and for his grandfather’s small construction company. The latter job, especially, taught him valuable lessons about the essence of hard work. 

When the time came and Lawson’s grandfather was contemplating transitioning the company over to him, Lawson decided that wasn’t the career path he wanted. Instead, Lawson began working for the Greater Philadelphia YMCA at the Columbia North YMCA branch in North Philadelphia as a camp counselor and after-school coordinator during the afternoons.

At the same time, he also worked the graveyard shift as a bail interviewer at the Philadelphia Police Headquarters in Center City. 

Lawson credits the dynamic of working the two very different jobs as what “changed my trajectory on what I wanted to do with my career,” he said.

At the time, he had been contemplating going to law school or pursuing another path in graduate school. But ultimately, Lawson made his choice.  

“I decided to stay working for the YMCA and really built my career here because I could make a bigger impact on the community by working at the Y,” Lawson highlighted. 

A Pivot and a Pandemic 

Lawson devoted his career to being a YMCA professional, taking on a number of roles with growing responsibilities. 

As one of the nation’s leading nonprofits surrounding youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, the YMCA serves the community in many different facets.

“We don’t have to be everything for everyone, but we’re committed to serving all by offering programs and services that have wide appeal and are impactful to the community,” added Lawson.  

After nearly 20 years, Lawson departed from the Greater Philadelphia YMCA to join the Y in Central Maryland in November 2017. There, Lawson served as senior vice president of operations. 

The role fed Lawson’s passion for youth development and making a positive impact on others. So, too, did his next role.  

In July 2019, Lawson took a brief pivot from the arena he had built his professional career around, leaving the YMCA and accepting a job as chief operating officer at Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia. 

It was an experience that allowed Lawson to break out of his YMCA comfort zone. He learned one valuable piece of information in that role.

“What I gained from that is that my skills are transferable,” he said. “The YMCA really prepared me for any job.” 

Less than a year into his role with Mastery Schools, the pandemic hit.

“That was very daunting,” Lawson recalled about trying to navigate such unprecedented times. 

While true, Lawson also found some silver linings during that time. 

“I learned a lot about how to adapt to a new environment. I leaned into crisis management skillset, organized and galvanized 2,000 staff members and 15,000 students across two different municipalities — Philadelphia and Camden — in two states with two different education departments,” he added.  

The job was far from easy, but Lawson wouldn’t change a thing as it allowed him to play a meaningful role in the lives of children and in the community at large.

“Under my leadership, Mastery Charter Schools increased enrollment even during the pandemic, increased our revenue during that time frame, impacted more kids, and provided our students with asynchronous and synchronous learning opportunities,” Lawson said. 

All that was on top of serving more than 1 million meals to the community and continuing to move the organization and curriculum forward.

Despite spending less than two years in the role, Lawson highlighted that his former CEO praised him for completing “five years’ worth of work” during his tenure.  

A Remarkable Return to the Y 

In February 2021, Lawson returned to his YMCA roots, becoming the new President & CEO of the YMCA of Central New York (YCNY). Upon returning to his stomping grounds, Lawson was able to bring his knowledge from working within the educational system to the role.  

During his tenure, Lawson helped the organization rebound from the pandemic, focusing on membership growth and philanthropic efforts. Lawson had his work cut out for him as New York had among the strictest COVID-related restrictions in the United States.  

Using his expertise, Lawson helped YCNY grow back to over 44,000 members from a pandemic low of 26,478 in 2020. He also led their first annual campaign to receive over $1 million in contributions to advance the work of providing more access to the organization to underserved communities.  

Having, at that point, worked at three different YMCA associations in three different regions, Lawson observed many of the similarities and differences between them. 

“We have to understand what’s affecting our community positively and negatively,” he said. “And I will say that each of these communities have a difference, but there’s a lot of things that are similar.”

Access to services is one issue that applies across the board, motivating Lawson to solve this issue in each community that he serves. 

Leading the YMCA of Greater Brandywine 

If Lawson had to use one word to describe his current tenure as President and CEO of YGBW, it would be: surreal.

Lawson is back in an area in which he has familiarity with. 

YGBW impacts more than 60,000 residents of Chester County through services offered at nine branches and program centers.  

Just months before joining the YMCA of Greater Brandywine, Lawson was also appointed to Lincoln University’s Board of Trustees.

“The way that it played itself out, I couldn’t write that script,” he said. 

In the two roles, Lawson has the opportunity to serve a county in which he has close ties to. The dynamic of the two professional roles, coupled with the personal responsibility he has to provide for his family are Lawson’s prime motivators. 

“With my senior leadership team and our board of directors, I get to have meaningful and thoughtful dialogue with community stakeholders and leaders to understand the perspective of what’s happening and how YGBW can fill a void,” said Lawson.  

Lawson always has an eye toward maximizing his abilities, and both roles also tie into his passion for education and youth development.

In simpler terms, Lawson looks at each day as an opportunity to make an impact, an outlook that is meaningful to him as it was instilled by his parents. 

His mother is a retired teacher, while his father was a U.S. Marine. “They often gave back and supported their community in various ways and I was able to see that,” said Lawson. “And in this particular role, I get to do that every day.”  

As Lawson looks back at his journey, he often harkens back to a piece of advice he received from a former CEO, John Flynn.

“One of the things he would say to me and it still resonates is: ‘In work, you will make mistakes, but never make the same mistake twice. Learn from your mistakes, but never make the same mistake twice.’” 

That’s the same piece of advice he often gives to the youth he works with, as well as his own children.

“It’s all about growing and being better than you were yesterday,” Lawson concluded.