Bandstra to Retire as Goodwill Industries President & CEO

JOHNSTOWN, PA, April 30, 2015— Goodwill of the Southern Alleghenies.’s Board of Directors today announces the retirement of its President & CEO, Phyllis J. Bandstra effective this summer.

Bandstra joined Goodwill in November 1995 as its Director of Employment and Training Services and was instrumental in starting the Goodwill Career Development Center in 1997 after a needs assessment identified underserved persons in the community. She also expanded job training services from solely individuals with physical disabilities to include people with disadvantaging economic conditions.

In 1998, the Board appointed Bandstra as the agency’s President & CEO. Key highlights during Bandstra’s tenure include continued expansion of job training services to include dislocated workers, youth, veterans, ex-offenders, and individuals in other disadvantaging circumstances; the purchase of the four-story CT Evans Building along Central Avenue for its agency headquarters; an increase in openings and/or relocations of Goodwill Retail Stores and Donation Centers from 5 to 11; an increase in numbers served from 125 to more than 30,000; the purchase and renovation of a 93,000 square-foot warehouse; and an increase in employees from 67 to 271.

Bandstra serves on the boards of many nonprofit agencies, holds leadership roles in both community and professional capacities, and is a recognized advocate for people with barriers to employment. Her many awards and honors include the “Women/Minority Award” by Pennsylvania Business Central in 2008, the “Top 100 Pennsylvania Business Leaders” by Pennsylvania Business Central in 2007, the “Top 100 People in Pennsylvania” by Pennsylvania Business Central in 2006, and an “ATHENA Award Finalist by the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce and the YMCA in 1999.

Her most recent honor was her appointment by Goodwill Industries International (GII) in June 2012 as a first-term three-year member to its Goodwill Executive Council, which included her appointment to its Board of Directors comprised of independent Goodwill agency CEOs and lay board members. Members of the Goodwill Executive Council are nominated by committee and voted in by their peers based on their performance as CEOs with their respective independent Goodwill agencies.

Goodwill’s Board of Directors has begun a national search for her successor.

 

Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley (GICV), Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1962 to empower individuals and families with employment barriers to achieve their fullest potential in the community through work services. Headquartered in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, GICV serves individuals with disabilities and disadvantages, dislocated workers, youth, and other job seekers throughout south central Pennsylvania in the counties of Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Huntingdon, Indiana, Somerset and a portion of Westmoreland by providing education and career services as well as job placement and postemployment supports. GICV is a community-based member organization of Goodwill Industries International, a 179-member network in the U.S., Canada, and 13 other countries. Learn more at www.gicv.org.