College fitness director likely to head Community Center
Maureen Bond, a longtime fitness education director with Mount St. Mary’s College, is expected to be the next leader of the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge, replacing Deb Jordan, whose last day is Friday.
Pending final confirmation, the Glendale native, who currently lives in Granada Hills, would start the position Sept. 2, according to Ara Aslanian, chairman of the community center’s board of directors.
On Monday, Bond called the new position a return to the community she grew up in and to the professional talents she’d cultivated earlier in her career working with recreational programs through the YMCA and the Angeles Girl Scout Council.
“Seriously, it’s like a homecoming to me,” she said. “It has the best of all the jobs I’ve had and room for growth.”
In addition to her director position at the Los Angeles Catholic liberal arts college, Bond was associate director of student affairs and an adjunct faculty member there. While photography has been a lifelong love and professional pursuit, Bond has worked as a course assistant at the Los Angeles Center of Photography for two years.
Her background also includes years of volunteer and professional experience leading recreational activities, with 33 years of volunteer work with the YMCA of Greater Long Beach and three years as director of outdoor programs for Girl Scouts of the USA, from 1997 to 2000.
Before that, she was the recreational director for the Pacific Lodge Youth Services in Woodland Hills, a therapeutic residence for boys in the juvenile justice system.
Bond said she’s eager to learn more about La Cañada and start making inroads at the center.
“I’m a people person, and I believe everything is built upon relationships and what you can make from those relationships,” she said.
That personableness, coupled with her experience working with youth of all ages and having a recreation-related background, made Bond the best candidate from among the more than 40 resumes the community center received, Aslanian said Tuesday.
“She had a very enthusiastic personality, which we liked,” he said. “And she had a mix of experience — that’s what the community center is all about.”
Jordan said she feels confident in Bond’s ability to bring new ideas to the table.
“We were looking for someone who could read what the community wants and, at the same time, look for trends and stay ahead of them,” she said. “Maureen’s very creative, and I think that’s a necessity here.”
Jordan will begin her new job as executive director of USC-Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Glendale facility, on Monday. She plans to retain an advocacy role as a recently elected member of the community center’s board of directors.
Jordan was voted onto the board in a meeting last week, along with Karen Knudsen and Sarah Campbell. Knudsen, a nurse manager from Huntington Hospital’s emergency department, led a CPR training course for the center last fall, while Campbell became a supporter last year after soliciting food donations for the center’s annual Thanksgiving Day Fun Run and Food Drive
The new additions replace Kelly Armaly and Theresa Hendrickson, who have retired from the board, according to Aslanian. There are now 11 members.
“We have a very strong board,” Aslanian said. “I’m looking forward to the next couple of years at the community center, because it’s going to be great.”
