Ben Hubbard, a former staff member and long-serving volunteer director of the Y, has been appointed as National President of the Y in Australia, formerly known in Australia as the YMCA.

The Y’s President for the last four years, Chris Lewis, remains on the Board as Vice-President, explaining it had been the Board’s long standing preferred position to appoint Ben to this role – an opportunity that had only recently opened up due a change in Ben’s personal circumstances.

“Ben has been a highly valued, respected and integral part of the National Board, and prior to that on the Y Victoria Board, and played a leading role over the COVID-19 period with respect to securing support for the new Virtual Y for YMCA Victoria and in other successful advocacy work for the Y,” said Chris.

Ben said he had first come to know about the Y as a young person in Bendigo, through taking part in Youth Parliament, had worked for the Y as a staff member in his 20s, and as a volunteer director of Y Victoria for much of his 30s.

He said he was both humbled and honoured to be part of the Y’s long lineage of leadership committed to continuously improving communities around the world, for over 175 years.

He said the Y in Australia did a good job in believing in the power of inspired young people, but could not afford to stand still.

“We need to continually adapt with the times to be relevant and change with the lives of the people we serve,” he said.

All about Ben

Ben Hubbard has been a director of the Y in Australia since January 2017 and sits on the Board’s Towards One Y and Licensing and Membership Committees. Ben was a director of Y Victoria between 2010 and 2019, and is a former YMCA staff member and volunteer. Ben is a self-employed consultant, and has extensive governance, strategy and public policy experience, including as Chief Strategy Officer of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and CEO of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority. Ben is a Fellow of the AICD and a Senior Fellow of the Melbourne School of Government, and holds a Masters of Public Policy & Management and a Bachelor of Commerce, both from the University of Melbourne.