Oklahoma native LISA KOGAN-PRASKA chose to build her career in Northeast Wisconsin. And although she admits she may have underestimated the cold weather, the decision has brought her a wealth of professional experiences in health care, leadership and culture development, business development and nonprofit stewardship. She served as president and CEO of Catalpa Health from 2012-2018. In 2020, while working as a consultant, she felt called back to the nonprofit world. After a virtual interview and without even setting foot in its facilities, she accepted the job as CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Green Bay. She said the opportunity was clearly meant for her. “I knew I was going to like it,” she said. “But I love it.” She sat down with Insight to share more.
What do you love about Boys & Girls Club?
Lisa Kogan-Praska: The team. I have never had an opportunity to work with such a “yes and” team — always looking at how we can do more. They’re in it to make a difference every single day. You know, Club has always been very important to the community and to so many kids — but during COVID we were vital. Not every kid is “safer at home.” Not every kid can learn at home. Not every parent can be home to help their kids learn. So we opened up to become virtual learning centers, switching our whole model from after school to being open from 7 to 5 when parents needed us most. There’s a motto at Boys & Girls Club of “whatever it takes,” and I see it every single day. And I definitely saw it during COVID. I almost tear up when I talk about it, because it’s really emotional to see that level of dedication.
It seems like, in some ways, the pandemic was actually a productive time for you to learn this new role.
That is so much so. As a new leader coming in you have fresh eyes, but a lot of times when you’re coming in new there’s a pace of change. You want to learn first before you start to implement change. Coming in during COVID, the apple cart was turned over. I didn’t turn it over. There were apples everywhere, and we had to say we’ve gotta work together to put the apples back in. [The pandemic] gave us permission to not only start doing things, but stop doing things. And to take collaboration to a whole new level. “It takes a village” never became more evident than during COVID.
One of the partnerships you’re forging is with the Greater Green Bay YMCA.
Yes, we’re just starting some of those conversations. We went out and interviewed current Club members, past Club members, Y members, parents, teachers … just kind of asked them about their pain points, their wishes and hopes and fears so that we could start to identify the unmet needs, the gaps and the challenges. This is what Club does really well; this is what the Y does really well. On paper, it might look like it overlaps or competes, but what a silly thing to compete over. It’s not about the credit; it’s about how do we get the work done, and with the Y there are incredible opportunities. It’s a great organization with tremendous talent and resources, just like Club. So bring those together and imagine what we can do for kids and families.
What are some of those needs and gaps you were able to identify in Greater Green Bay?
We have never seen the mental health needs of kids be greater. The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared it a crisis. Coming from Catalpa I knew the need was great then, but it’s even more significant now. At Club we see that manifested as, little things can now bring on really big emotions. We see behaviors we haven’t seen before. How do we manage that? How do we keep kids safe and help our staff deal with that on a daily basis? The intensity of the work has definitely changed.
What have you learned in your first two years on the job, especially through these trying times?
Every child can benefit from caring adults in their life. When I think about our superpower at Club, it really is going deep and building relationships. That’s one of the most valuable gifts we can give: letting [kids] know they matter, that their voice is important, that their potential is limitless, and that you believe in them. “I believe in you” is such a powerful thing for kids to hear — and not just for “those kids,” as we sometimes hear. Every child needs to know they have opportunities, that they matter. As a community, we’ve all been through a lot — but our kids especially have.
What are you excited about for the future of Club?
One of the cool things we’re doing is going deeper into diversity, equity and inclusion using the arts. Kids have powerful stories to tell, and the arts are a wonderful medium for them to get out there and share. If it can spark community conversations, if it can make someone think, that is huge. We did a mural right around the time of George Floyd’s murder and it was really powerful, and it was youth led. It’s really about meeting each kid where they’re at and saying, “Okay, how do we help you thrive? How do we help foster what’s unique about you?” And it could be through the arts, but also through athletics, healthy lifestyles, STEM … there’s so many different ways. The spirit of Club is just amazing.
