Jennifer Moonsong
WCLU News Director
“The secret to change is to focus all your energy, not on the fighting the old, but building the new.” -Socrates
At 29-years-old, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Glasgow-Barren County, Mallie Boston, is the youngest CEO the organization has in the midwest region. However, it is not titles or accolades that drive Boston. It is the love of children and a sense she’s found her place.
Fresh out of high school, Boston was interested in environmental science and took that on as her course of study.
“I wanted to take down the frackers. But I started changing directions because of political reasons. Much of the funding for environmental science was taken away,” Boston said.
Boston added that she didn’t desire to work with kids, but had fallen in love with the kids of the club.
That is when she turned her attention to the Boys and Girls Club, which was already ingrained in her way of thinking, since she had worked there since she was in high school.
“A lot of the things are happening here, like life skills and mentoring, leading them in a direction that I wanted to be led, it was important to me,” she said. “And I was a kid who needed the support and could have benefited by being a kid here.”
Boston speaks candidly of her own childhood.
“I grew up in what was at times extreme poverty,” Boston said.
“One of the reasons the club was so appealing was I saw staff at that time making such positive strides and connections. I had people who had positively connected to me.
Mark Gibson and Mary Fye were amongst those people. Mary Fye taught out of the box and made me comfortable about being passionate about learning in high school. I thought, maybe I could be what they are to someone else.”
Boston says one of the cornerstones to her philosophy for the club is to allow outside-the-box approaches, and that it works.
“The path we take is sometimes non-traditional, but it is always to benefit the kids. The proof is in the pudding,” she said. Every Boys and Girls Club in the nation takes part in the National Youth Outcomes Initiative, and the club always ranks above average.
“The most rewarding part of this is, they make my job easy. They can speak up at any moment and share their ideas. We try to foster the ability that they can question authority, and teach them how to do so respectfully. Everything we do here is an open door policy,” Boston said.
Boston’s long term mission is to be able to continuously provide a space for positivity and support.
“It is our goal to equip children with the tools it takes to have a good life. We want them to feel comfortable moving forward. We are a lifetime reference for the kids of the club. A lot of our alumni find their way back here,” she said.
Although Boston is the unwavering, steadfast leader she knows none of what happens at the club could go on without diligent support from the community.
“The Houchens family and Gaunce family have supported the club with contributions. Historically, Boys and Girls Clubs don’t survive in communities of this size. But we’ve been very lucky. We have continuously grown for the past 18 years,” she said.
The most recent growth was just this year with the relocation to the Craft innovation Campus. The bright, big facility has allowed for expansion.
For example ,they are in the process of adding more arts to the curriculum, as well as support for good mental health. This helps the club to foster happy, healthy approaches to every aspect of life.
“Our board has been all in, and allows me to be passionate and concerned. Never have I been asked to dim my passion. They all believe that if there is something needed for a child, like materials, supplies, we will have them. There has never been a time when we haven’t been child-focused,” Boston said.
Boston also says part of the challenge and reward is helping the children through times of crisis or trauma.
“I’ve not found a single trauma I have not been able to support a child through.you are a hundred percent going to be able to utilize what you’ve been through to help someone,” Boston said.
In 2024 over 200 registered at this unit a Barren Beyond the Bell, and the club serves over 1,000 teenagers in various capacities. As for the future, Boston wants to help the children better prepare for real life.
“Our next goal is laying out a workforce program for the youth, where we pay them a stipend to work in the community,” Boston said.
As for Boston, she says she has definitely “found her place in the world” and sees synchronicities between her own experience and the experiences of children she works with and for every day.
“I’m here because I am disgusted by the world. Here I can make a difference,” Boston said.
To learn more about the local Boys and Girls Club, you can follow them on Facebook.