1/24/25 MEET INTERIM CEO RYAN VRBA: INSIGHTS ON GOALS, INTERESTS, AND THE FUTURE OF BBBSL
Get to know our interim CEO, Ryan Vrba, as he shares his goals, interests, and vision for the future of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lowcountry in this exclusive Q&A.
Q: Describe yourself in three words.
Ryan Vrba: Driven, outdoorsy, thoughtful.
Q: What’s your background? Prior to joining BBBSL, what’s "your story?"
RV: I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Both my parents were teachers and always stressed the importance of a career that made a positive impact. I eventually moved to South Carolina by way of being a Division I college tennis player, and after college, I’ve spent my career in the nonprofit sector. That began in mental health as a mental health counselor in a youth residential facility, then I worked as a crisis interventionist (social worker) in the emergency room of a hospital. While working at the hospital, I earned an MBA that allowed me to transition to management of social service programming. Most recently, I spent eight years as a Program Director at Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach, another Charleston-based nonprofit. And then I joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lowcountry in July 2024.
Q: What interested you the most about the interim CEO role?
RV: BBBSL has a wonderful board, staff, and mission. For a small organization to lose its CEO is a challenge. I was honored to be asked to be interim CEO and what interested me about the opportunity was the chance to help this wonderful organization navigate this challenging time. I am also very excited to see, and be a part of, what is to come next for BBBSL.
Q:What are the organization’s goals while the search for our next CEO continues?
RV: Building Culture: I want to ensure that while we go through this transition that our team feels valued and supported. We have a talented group of people here that I feel honored to work with. I hope to make this period as smooth as possible for them.
Quality over Quantity: Although we aim to increase the number of families and children served in the coming years, I think we need to focus on the quality of matches we are making and the quality of match support we are providing during this time.
Opportunity: Although this is a challenging time, every CEO transition is an opportunity to evaluate systems, methods, and goals. The team is currently doing this and has already found ways to become more efficient. I believe we will continue to do so throughout this transition.
Dream: We are thinking about what we can do and what we would like to see the organization do in the future. We’ll share these thoughts with the next CEO, so that the whole team plays a role in shaping the future of BBBSL.
Q: Since you joined BBBSL as Program Director and now have been elevated to interim CEO, what have you learned about BBBSL and the community we serve?
RV: The mission was what attracted me to the organization, but I have learned the most about the staff and the board. They inspire me to work harder and do as much as I can for the organization. To see what this group of people has accomplished and continues to accomplish on a regular basis is truly impressive. I feel honored to be a part of such a great organization and to work with such amazing people.
Q: What’s Ryan like outside of work?
RV: Outdoorsy. I still play tennis 4-5 times a week, I love going to the beach with my wife and our two dogs, I enjoy photography, and I love to eat at the amazing restaurants Charleston has to offer.
Q: Look into your crystal ball and give us a prediction for what BBBSL will look like next year? How about five years from now?
RV: This is hard to answer, as I am sure our next CEO will have a vision for the organization that largely determines the direction that we will head in. Having said that, I think this is a very exciting time for our organization. I do believe we have the foundation in place to grow in terms of the number of matches served annually. However, I would also love to see us grow in the depth of support we provide to our families and Littles. We conduct monthly calls with our Littles and families to support them in their matches. In these calls, we hear of many struggles our families are experiencing related to food insecurity, housing challenges, financial issues, and more. I would love for us to investigate the ability to support some of these challenges and needs directly and to do more to tailor our support to each individual situation. I am excited to investigate this possibility with our next CEO and envision what this could look like.
I also think there is a lot we can do to increase awareness and better share our work and impacts with the Charleston community. It is surprising, but there is still a lot of the tri-county area that is not familiar with our work. I am excited to help us look into new marketing strategies in the coming years and to be more successful in awareness building.
Finally, I want to continue in the direction of making this the best nonprofit to work at in the Charleston area. This means continuing to invest in culture, listening to our employees, and recruiting and retaining the best talent in the sector. I think we are on a good path right now, but we can always grow in this area. In summary, I think in five years’ time, we will be serving more matches, providing a deeper level of support to these matches, doing a better job educating the community on our work, and offering the best employee experience in the sector.
ABOUT BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF THE LOWCOUNTRY:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lowcountry (BBBSL) works with parents, guardians and volunteers to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Using a nationally recognized, evidence‐ and outcomes‐based model, BBBSL mentoring relationships protect and foster scholastic achievement, healthy peer-to-peer/family relationships, avoidance of risky behaviors and strong self‐concept among children served.