Jerry Major

What’s your current position? 

Executive Director of the Northeast Pennsylvania Youth For Christ.  As the name would imply, YFC is a Christian youth organization challenging teenagers to make right decisions and helping them to understand what God's love and forgiveness can mean in their lives.  How long have you been in this position?  28 years!  Can you give me a brief overview of what it is you do in your work? As the ExD I recruit, train and oversee the staff (4 FT and 2 PT) and volunteers.  I also recruit and am accountable to a Board of Directors.  Our staff is 100% responsible to fundraise our full budget.  We do after school clubs we call Campus Life with students from 5 area high schools, a City Life club for kids in Scranton, and Parent LIfe which is our club and mentoring program for pregnant and parenting teens.  We also involve students on work and missions Project Serve trips to Ghana, W. Africa.

What would you say most motivates you to do the work you do? 

Probably foremost is the anxiety and depression among today's teens.  39% of the young generation say they have NO ONE to talk to who will listen and care. What are you most passionate about?  Providing meaningful relationships for teenagers with responsible, authentic adults who can help guide a teenager through the challenges of life.  Obviously, we want to share what a relationship with God can mean for students and how that helps them view their world.

Did you have any key mentors or people who deeply influenced who you are? 

Tell a bit about them and what they did that influenced you.  Yes, my father ran the YFC ministry in Scranton from 1955-1973 and held other leadership positions after that.  He was a role model in life and ministry for me.  I think watching his mentoring of students was important, as well as the fact that he spent time teaching me about what is important in leadership and integrity. 

When did you graduate from LL? 

I participated in the Executive Program with my wife, Marilyn, and we completed the course in Nov. 2011. What was your favorite thing while being in the project? I really enjoyed the time of learning about the history and the businesses of the area.  Meeting other Executive Directors and CEOs was really encouraging.  Anything to mention about your class project?  We didn't have one per se in the Executive track, but the dinner's were really good!!

Favorite quote and why? 

This was not necessarily from LL, but one of my favorite sayings is simply, "One thing at a time!"  I think in a leadership role, oftentimes a lot more than one thing is thrown at you all at once, but you can only handle one thing at a time.  So do that one thing, concentrate on it and do it well.  You may even try to finish it or get it to the point where it can hold itself over so you can concentrate and handle another emergency.  

I remember when I started the LL program I kept thinking, "That presenter was really good and I need to get to know them."  That certainly was true, but after I found myself saying that during the first 4 sessions or so, I finally realized the one I really needed to get to know was Nikki!!  She's the one who knows all the great people in the area.  Hats off to her.  She does a great job leading. I'm proud to say that she is a friend.