November 06, 2024
Author Preface - This post is 1 of 8 of posts related to my last weeks prior to retiring from the YMCA of South Florida after just over 40 years.
This is my actual unabridged letter presented to Sheryl A Woods, President/CEO of the YMCA of South Florida during my one-on-one meeting on November 5, 2024. It may have been a bit-too long to express my intention to retire but I felt the letter probably was more for my own way of bringing closure to a just over 40-year career with the same YMCA association.
_________________________
November 5, 2024
Sheryl A Woods, President/CEO
YMCA of South Florida
900 SE Third Avenue
Suite 210
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Dear Sheryl:
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me today.
As I always say there’s always a Y and a why behind everything I say and do. By now you know me, the historian and storyteller of our amazing association, which made it even more difficult for me to share with you my retirement from the YMCA of South Florida, with my last day being December 13, 2024.
In my just over 40 years with this great organization, I have always put the YMCA first before many of my own personal life’s happenings. I do not regret doing so but missed out on opportunities as well as been put into some personal challenging moments of my life. I know at times I could be difficult, stubborn or set in my ways but all-in-all, I pride myself in always giving my all in all that I do and did whatever it took to get the job done. Many previous supervisors as well as current colleagues tell me often my biggest fault is I wear my heart (for good or bad) on my sleeve and will do whatever it takes to get the job done and done right.
I reminisced and deliberated if I am doing the right thing. I played it out using an old school, pro and cons list. I wrote down a more than a couple but less than a dozen of my career highlights and my proudest achievements over my career. I will share with you a handful, which stood out to me and are not related to how the majority of our staff currently know me, as their Payroll Administrator.
But after seeing the greater benefit of me taking this opportunity, I realized there comes a time in life to start downshift, to reprioritize what matters most, it's not money, it's not the title, it's not competitiveness and quantity; but enjoying simple joys, quality friends, self-confidence and most importantly balance in all that you do.
Therefore, filled with bittersweet emotions, this letter serves as my formal resignation from my position as Payroll Administrator at the YMCA of South Florida. I will retire after just over 40 years of dedicated service. With an incredible journey working in a variety of diverse positions and capacities I held over my tenure; I feel I have sealed my legacy and it’s time to let my efforts pay off. I remain deeply grateful for the many opportunities, experiences and support I have gained throughout my career.
I kindly request to have the opportunity to share my news first, not only with my direct supervisor but a select group of individuals who I have worked with for over 25 years or more and have become nothing less than my extended family before this is announced to the remainder of our association.
I am immensely proud of my contributions I created over the past four decades and the legacy I leave. It has been an honor to work alongside with many talented individuals and be a part of our YMCAs success and growth. I leave with a sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment. As I reflect back, I see my footprints of my accomplishments in both programs and association-wide administrative responsibilities.
I began my tenure at the then independent Greater Hollywood Family YMCA in July 1984 and moved to the YMCA of Broward County in February 1990. The two YMCAs merged in 2000 and ultimately became a part of the larger, merged YMCA of South Florida in 2016. I believe I am, if not one of the last of the longest continually employed staff members of our YMCA. Notwithstanding, the opportunities presented to me as well as being part of an exciting, evolving organization is why I remained with our organization as long as I have.
Secured over $5.5M in annual grant funding from a combination of funding sources to significantly expand the footprint of before and after school programs and summer camps for persons with special needs programs. I helped secure additional funding and increased capacity of those same programs in our underserved communities. Responsibilities included pre-award planning and proposal writing; presentation; post-award training and monthly invoicing and outcome attainment reporting. I am immensely proud of securing and ensuring we were in compliance with our funders terms for over $75M of funding in my years as a grant writer.
As our association grew, I facilitated the opening and expansion of five family centers. Coupled with having the educational background, self-drive and a supervisor who was open to allowing my recommendations to creating new departments, implementing association-wide consistent policies and procedures as well as providing support to family centers as our association grew. I was able to take on the initative to learn the subject area through traditional classes and surround myself by subject matter experts within the YMCA movement as well as those in other non-profits, academia and government agencies.
When I first took over payroll back in 2008, we were still the YMCA of Broward County with a lot of cleanup to do after an incident of payroll theft occurred. I appreciate the trust you put into me to takeover and put in many of the established systems we have in place to prevent such an incident occurring again. As I mentioned back then, I was never a math person, let alone studied finance, accounting or even have a business degree but I will do my best to learn as much as I can about payroll and benefits. I also helped create and implement procedures and processes to help more precisely report to our funders more accurately how payroll dollars were spent and account for any post-payroll processing discrepancy processing.
Over the next year, I took the initiative to learn not one, but four different payroll platforms, from UltiPro to ADP, then ADP to Certipay. As part of the merger team, I took the lead to migrate our Certipay payroll data platform to the newer version of UltiPro while John Puleio worked to line up the general ledger and account numbers. I not only learned to handle payroll and benefits but took the initiative to take coursework on my own to learn basics of non-profit accounting, payroll and benefit administration and various workshops on regulations related to both federal and state labor laws, payroll law and regulations. I also had to take more than a few crash courses to learn how to close out the calendar quarters with 941s and RTC-6 as well as close out the year with year-end reporting as well guarantee to W-2s and W-3s are not only accurate but filed and released timely in accordance with federal law. Every year, I took the initiative to not just keep up on labor and payroll laws, changes in wage and hour reporting etc but take supplemental on-line or in-person workshops to keep myself current.
Of all the positions I’ve had in my career, payroll administrator by far is one I never thought would fall in my lap nor did I expect to remain in it as long as I have. I went through several payroll directors as supervisors, a control and even a Mark Russell. Mark was and continued to be a valuable resource and wealth of knowledge and knowing if I received a job well done from him, I indeed did well. KUDOS to him for always taking time to offer a lesson, share a tid-bit of advice or even a lecture on something that may not have been done exactly a true accountant would have. I’d be remiss to not give much gratitude and valued appreciation to my other teacher, Shenna Simpson. She had the patience to teach me basic accounting skills and supported, encouraged and a couple times filled in for me when I had to have a couple surgeries and offered many laughs and tears over the last 30 plus years is nothing less than family to me.
I think of everything I have done, I am most proud of is when I run into past participants, members or even staff who spot me in everyday situations outside of the YMCA and remember me as their camp counselor, a mentor or just as the guy from the Y who wore the t-shirt proudly.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to those past supervisors who believed in me as well as those who remained my mentors in the present day. I also want to thank my colleagues and the entire YMCA of South Florida team for their guidance, camaraderie, and friendship. I will cherish the memories and relationships forged during my time here.
As I embark on this new chapter of my life, I have to accept my past without regret, handle my present with confidence, and face my future without fear. With every job I departed, I always carried my responsibilities proudly and did them to the best of my ability, with passion and an aim for perfection, with hopes I left it in a better position than when I first arrived. Please let me know if there are any formalities or procedures I need to follow before my departure. I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition and assisting with any necessary handovers to facilitate the continuity of work.
Once again, thank you for the invaluable experiences and support throughout my career with the YMCA of South Florida. I wish our organization, the YMCA of South Florida nothing but continued success and prosperity in the future.
Sincerely,
Robert W Kovacs
Robert W Kovacs
P.S. As you know, I was never one to like to be thrown into the spotlight, thank you for giving me the chance to succeed behind the scenes. By the way, you still owe me a lunch or two from back in our Broward Boulevard days that we never made it to after moving to the 900 building. I know only of a few things which happened when life got in the way…
This is my actual unabridged letter presented to Sheryl A Woods, President/CEO of the YMCA of South Florida during my one-on-one meeting on November 5, 2024. It may have been a bit-too long to express my intention to retire but I felt the letter probably was more for my own way of bringing closure to a just over 40-year career with the same YMCA association.
_________________________
November 5, 2024
Sheryl A Woods, President/CEO
YMCA of South Florida
900 SE Third Avenue
Suite 210
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Dear Sheryl:
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me today.
As I always say there’s always a Y and a why behind everything I say and do. By now you know me, the historian and storyteller of our amazing association, which made it even more difficult for me to share with you my retirement from the YMCA of South Florida, with my last day being December 13, 2024.
In my just over 40 years with this great organization, I have always put the YMCA first before many of my own personal life’s happenings. I do not regret doing so but missed out on opportunities as well as been put into some personal challenging moments of my life. I know at times I could be difficult, stubborn or set in my ways but all-in-all, I pride myself in always giving my all in all that I do and did whatever it took to get the job done. Many previous supervisors as well as current colleagues tell me often my biggest fault is I wear my heart (for good or bad) on my sleeve and will do whatever it takes to get the job done and done right.
I reminisced and deliberated if I am doing the right thing. I played it out using an old school, pro and cons list. I wrote down a more than a couple but less than a dozen of my career highlights and my proudest achievements over my career. I will share with you a handful, which stood out to me and are not related to how the majority of our staff currently know me, as their Payroll Administrator.
But after seeing the greater benefit of me taking this opportunity, I realized there comes a time in life to start downshift, to reprioritize what matters most, it's not money, it's not the title, it's not competitiveness and quantity; but enjoying simple joys, quality friends, self-confidence and most importantly balance in all that you do.
Therefore, filled with bittersweet emotions, this letter serves as my formal resignation from my position as Payroll Administrator at the YMCA of South Florida. I will retire after just over 40 years of dedicated service. With an incredible journey working in a variety of diverse positions and capacities I held over my tenure; I feel I have sealed my legacy and it’s time to let my efforts pay off. I remain deeply grateful for the many opportunities, experiences and support I have gained throughout my career.
I kindly request to have the opportunity to share my news first, not only with my direct supervisor but a select group of individuals who I have worked with for over 25 years or more and have become nothing less than my extended family before this is announced to the remainder of our association.
I am immensely proud of my contributions I created over the past four decades and the legacy I leave. It has been an honor to work alongside with many talented individuals and be a part of our YMCAs success and growth. I leave with a sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment. As I reflect back, I see my footprints of my accomplishments in both programs and association-wide administrative responsibilities.
I began my tenure at the then independent Greater Hollywood Family YMCA in July 1984 and moved to the YMCA of Broward County in February 1990. The two YMCAs merged in 2000 and ultimately became a part of the larger, merged YMCA of South Florida in 2016. I believe I am, if not one of the last of the longest continually employed staff members of our YMCA. Notwithstanding, the opportunities presented to me as well as being part of an exciting, evolving organization is why I remained with our organization as long as I have.
Secured over $5.5M in annual grant funding from a combination of funding sources to significantly expand the footprint of before and after school programs and summer camps for persons with special needs programs. I helped secure additional funding and increased capacity of those same programs in our underserved communities. Responsibilities included pre-award planning and proposal writing; presentation; post-award training and monthly invoicing and outcome attainment reporting. I am immensely proud of securing and ensuring we were in compliance with our funders terms for over $75M of funding in my years as a grant writer.
- - Actively involved as co-chair in organizing and launching several state-wide conferences for both AYP, and YMCA Child Care as well as instrumental in implementing an Annual Partners Appreciation Breakfast and a two day overnight Staff Appreciation Retreat.
- - Lastly, programmatically I was one of two first certified lifeguards and swim instructors when the indoor pool opened in 1986. I was instrumental in creating a half-day pre-school program at the Greater Hollywood YMCA Family Center and began researching the feasibility of making it to a licensed full-day program prior to my resignation to join the YMCA of Broward County. I started at the YMCA of Broward County in 1990 as one of the first employees of the West Broward YMCA when it was a shared office inside the Athletic Club at Weston. I started as a Site Director and was promoted to a Child Care Program Director overseeing at my peak 15 off-site program locations and a staff of over 75.
- - Served on a committee which created the first joint summer camp and back to school training between the YMCA of Broward County and the Greater Hollywood Family YMCA and eventually became the co-chair of the annual events for the remainder of my years in these programs.
- - In partnership with United Way and several technology leaders, I served on a committee which nonprofit organizations were paired up with one of the technology leaders to assess the “wish lists” from the nonprofit organizations. I communicated the YMCAs wished to have a world-wide web presence to promote our programs, services and agency information and news. Within a few months the YMCA of Broward County launched its first domain hosted website at www.ymcabroward.org back in 1999.
As our association grew, I facilitated the opening and expansion of five family centers. Coupled with having the educational background, self-drive and a supervisor who was open to allowing my recommendations to creating new departments, implementing association-wide consistent policies and procedures as well as providing support to family centers as our association grew. I was able to take on the initative to learn the subject area through traditional classes and surround myself by subject matter experts within the YMCA movement as well as those in other non-profits, academia and government agencies.
When I first took over payroll back in 2008, we were still the YMCA of Broward County with a lot of cleanup to do after an incident of payroll theft occurred. I appreciate the trust you put into me to takeover and put in many of the established systems we have in place to prevent such an incident occurring again. As I mentioned back then, I was never a math person, let alone studied finance, accounting or even have a business degree but I will do my best to learn as much as I can about payroll and benefits. I also helped create and implement procedures and processes to help more precisely report to our funders more accurately how payroll dollars were spent and account for any post-payroll processing discrepancy processing.
Over the next year, I took the initiative to learn not one, but four different payroll platforms, from UltiPro to ADP, then ADP to Certipay. As part of the merger team, I took the lead to migrate our Certipay payroll data platform to the newer version of UltiPro while John Puleio worked to line up the general ledger and account numbers. I not only learned to handle payroll and benefits but took the initiative to take coursework on my own to learn basics of non-profit accounting, payroll and benefit administration and various workshops on regulations related to both federal and state labor laws, payroll law and regulations. I also had to take more than a few crash courses to learn how to close out the calendar quarters with 941s and RTC-6 as well as close out the year with year-end reporting as well guarantee to W-2s and W-3s are not only accurate but filed and released timely in accordance with federal law. Every year, I took the initiative to not just keep up on labor and payroll laws, changes in wage and hour reporting etc but take supplemental on-line or in-person workshops to keep myself current.
Of all the positions I’ve had in my career, payroll administrator by far is one I never thought would fall in my lap nor did I expect to remain in it as long as I have. I went through several payroll directors as supervisors, a control and even a Mark Russell. Mark was and continued to be a valuable resource and wealth of knowledge and knowing if I received a job well done from him, I indeed did well. KUDOS to him for always taking time to offer a lesson, share a tid-bit of advice or even a lecture on something that may not have been done exactly a true accountant would have. I’d be remiss to not give much gratitude and valued appreciation to my other teacher, Shenna Simpson. She had the patience to teach me basic accounting skills and supported, encouraged and a couple times filled in for me when I had to have a couple surgeries and offered many laughs and tears over the last 30 plus years is nothing less than family to me.
I think of everything I have done, I am most proud of is when I run into past participants, members or even staff who spot me in everyday situations outside of the YMCA and remember me as their camp counselor, a mentor or just as the guy from the Y who wore the t-shirt proudly.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to those past supervisors who believed in me as well as those who remained my mentors in the present day. I also want to thank my colleagues and the entire YMCA of South Florida team for their guidance, camaraderie, and friendship. I will cherish the memories and relationships forged during my time here.
As I embark on this new chapter of my life, I have to accept my past without regret, handle my present with confidence, and face my future without fear. With every job I departed, I always carried my responsibilities proudly and did them to the best of my ability, with passion and an aim for perfection, with hopes I left it in a better position than when I first arrived. Please let me know if there are any formalities or procedures I need to follow before my departure. I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition and assisting with any necessary handovers to facilitate the continuity of work.
Once again, thank you for the invaluable experiences and support throughout my career with the YMCA of South Florida. I wish our organization, the YMCA of South Florida nothing but continued success and prosperity in the future.
Sincerely,
Robert W Kovacs
Robert W Kovacs
P.S. As you know, I was never one to like to be thrown into the spotlight, thank you for giving me the chance to succeed behind the scenes. By the way, you still owe me a lunch or two from back in our Broward Boulevard days that we never made it to after moving to the 900 building. I know only of a few things which happened when life got in the way…
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