The Chill Foundation Board of Directors announced that Ben Clark was hired as its new global CEO of Chill. Created in 1995 by Burton Snowboards’ late founder Jake Burton Carpenter and his wife, current Burton owner Donna Carpenter, Chill inspires young people to overcome challenges through boardsports.
“Very rarely in my career have I been so certain that we have found the right senior leader at the right time,” said Donna Carpenter, founder, Chill. “Ben is experienced, strategic and mission-driven. He has extensive U.S. and international experience leading multi-site youth development programs and a proven track record of transforming organizations through his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, Ben has a personal passion for the transformational power of snowboarding and boardsports. As Chill prepares to grow both geographically and programmatically, I am confident Ben is the right leader to take the foundation to the next level. We can’t wait to welcome Ben to Chill in November.”
Clark was most recently the Executive Director at Enroot, a nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA. Under his leadership over the past eight years, Enroot expanded its programming, number of students served, fundraising results, and volunteer numbers. Prior to Enroot, he served as a Director at Teach For All, where he advised and coached CEOs and senior managers of more than 15 Teach for All network non-profit organizations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia on strategic planning, scaling and multi-site expansion, organizational structure, governance, and talent management.
Clark will oversee Chill Foundation’s global programs, currently in 10 countries and 24 cities. For the 2021/22 season, there are over 30 winter programs scheduled to begin in January, with the expectation to draw approximately 3,000 annual participants. A major focus for the Chill Foundation will be expanding into more European countries.
“I’m deeply honored to become Chill’s CEO and thrilled about all we will accomplish together in the coming years,” said Clark. “I believe there’s nothing we can’t achieve with Chill’s fantastic team and board of directors as well as our amazing community of participants, alumni, volunteers, funders, and champions around the world. Chill’s work supporting 30,000 young people over the last 26 years is proof of the magic that happens at the intersection of youth development, equity and boardsports. In the coming years, we’ll bring this magic to thousands of new young people and communities in the U.S. and globally. We will also work hard to continue centering diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity in everything we do. Thank you to Donna and Jake for bringing this incredible community into the world, and to the Chill family for welcoming me.”
Photo courtesy Chill Foundation
