As I embark on this journey as the next President & Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Place Association, I am excited thinking about the many opportunities that lie ahead and humbled thinking about from where I came.

I was raised by my mother and grandmother in the Austin community on Chicago’s Westside. When I was a young teen, my mother decided to move our family to rural Kentucky so that, in her words, “her children would be safe”. As a parent, I understand the desperate choice that she made all those years ago. As a nonprofit leader, I lament that a generation of Chicago’s young people still live daily in the challenges that poverty presents – lack of safety, subpar educational experiences, community violence, trauma, and poor health outcomes, to name a few.

My vision for Children’s Place is centered on providing proven pathways for our youth to overcome these challenges in an effort to help them transition from poverty to stability. Being appointed their next President and Chief Executive Officer is the opportunity for me to return to my Westside roots and join forces with its youth, families, and communities. It is my goal to shape a partnership that responds to their needs and utilizes the talent and passion of the wonderful Children’s Place staff as the conduit.

There is a lot of work to be done in this space, but much of it does build on the great work by the team here and the legacy left by Cathy Krieger. Thank you, Cathy, for your unwavering dedication, vision, and compassion in leading this work for the past 30 years. I am also deeply grateful to the entire Board, the Search Committee and Kittleman & Associates for their trust in me taking on this role.

To that end, in the coming months, I am excited to engage with our stakeholders as we work to recover from the pandemic and mount our response to the lessons that it has taught us. I hope we can count on you to join us as thought partners and co-creators of game-changing strategies that drive innovation, strengthen our partner, program and service ecosystems, and disrupt the cycle of poverty, violence and racism so that all youth – regardless of zip code – is given their opportunity to thrive.

Warm Regards,

Cinaiya Stubbs
President & CEO
Children’s Place Association