Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich names new leader
GREENWICH — A new leader is taking over the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, but it’s a familiar face.
Cristina Vittoria will take over as CEO starting July 1, succeeding Bobby Walker Jr., the club announced Monday morning. Vittoria is currently the club’s vice president of development.
“It is an honor to become the CEO of this vital community organization, which impacts so many children in Greenwich,” she said in a statement. “Each day, hundreds of happy kids burst through the doors of the club, inspiring me to work diligently to increase our financial support and to raise awareness of the essential work the club continues to do.”
The first female CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, Vittoria will take over after a one-month transition. Walker, who was hired as CEO in 2014, announced in February that he was taking a new position at Greenwich Academy, where he will serve as the assistant head of school for student and community life.
Walker is expected to remain as a member of the club’s advisory board.
“This is a tough job and Bobby was great at it for us,” George Fox, chairman of the club’s Board of Directors, said at the time.
Fox welcomed Vittoria to the new position on Monday.
“Cristina’s dedication to and expertise with both bolstering the organization’s profile and member support are qualities that the Board of Directors felt were essential in our next CEO,” Fox said “Cristina will be a strong leader and an articulate ambassador for the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich. We are confident that (club) will continue to thrive under her leadership.”
A resident of Riverside, Vittoria has worked at the club since 2018, directing its fundraising and marketing efforts. Previously, she worked at REACH Prep in Stamford, serving as the director of external relations and development. She has also worked in sales, marketing and events at Chief Executive Group in Greenwich and was in advertising sales for The New Yorker after graduating from Yale.
The club’s board had formed a search committee and conducted a regional search with outside consultants, The Strategy Group. The board said it had 175 applicants and there was a “rigorous interview process.”
“The positive feedback about Cristina from search committee members and board members alike was overwhelming,” said Eileen Tang, head of the committee. “Some of the adjectives used to describe Cristina were mission-driven, strategic, smart, creative, thoughtful, approachable, confident and charismatic. She is highly respected by both the club staff and the broader community. The search committee is confident that Cristina will provide the strong leadership and vision our club needs to move into the future.”