2018 Keynote Speakers
(2019 COMING SOON!)
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Scott Arizala is one of the leading experts and trainers on kids, staff and the experience of summer camp. As a professional speaker and international trainer, he has given keynotes, workshops and educational sessions at numerous professional conferences, training events, and with organizations. He is the CEO of The Camp Counselor, a consulting and training company working with hundreds of camps and thousands of staff & administrators across the country. He is the proud partner of Bioverativ, delivering the Camp Academy Program to camps for kids with bleeding disorders as well as the Executive Director of Chasing Summer, an organization dedicated to creating access for people with autism in camping, recreation, and education. He is a pioneering contributor to and project manager of Expert Online Training, the world’s leader in online training for camp staff. Inclusion.
Bela Mote joined Y-USA in 2016 and serves as Vice President of Evidence-Based Youth Development Interventions and National Director of Character Development. In this role, Bela leads the work within our evidence-based youth interventions, which includes the Achievement Gap, Early Childhood Equity Improvement and the newly funded Character Development Learning Institute. Her work ensures that evidence-based, impactful programs are scaled across the Movement to serve the full continuum of youth development.
Prior to joining the Y-USA leadership team, Bela held senior roles with noted organizations and movements that serve as leading catalysts of change for both national and Chicagoland education – including YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Ounce of Prevention Fund, and Thirty Million Words Initiative. The knowledge and experience Bela brings to Y-USA allows her to approach program design implementation and evaluation from the standpoints of a practitioner, evaluator and an executive. Bela also possesses a valuable perspective on public and private philanthropy, having worked as a senior Program Officer at the McCormick Foundation and in scaling Educare Schools in partnership with the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. |
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Patrick Connelly is the Senior Program Director at the Valley Shore YMCA where he oversees, youth, camp, aquatics and other YMCA programs. He was previously the Camp Manager for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. He also served as the Senior Director at the Northern Middlesex YMCA in Middletown, Connecticut and was the Outdoor Center Director of YMCA Camp Ingersoll for 9 years prior to joining the Girl Scouts. Since 1990 he has been in the YMCA movement at the Greater Hartford YMCA and the Southington-Cheshire Community YMCAs before joining the Northern Middlesex YMCA in 2000. He has presented at several national YMCA conferences including multiple YMCA Program Expos, ACA New England Camping Conference and ACA Tri-State Camp Conference, the National YMCA Camping Conference, several regional YMCA Camp Conferences and the 125 YMCA Camping Celebration.
Mark Pooler is the Director Of Operations at the Southington-Cheshire Community YMCAs. He served as the Outdoor Center Director and Camp Director of YMCA Camp Sloper for 20 years.Mark started his YMCA work as a Counselor-In-Training and has worked within the YMCA movement and field of camping for over 25 years. Mark earned his bachelors degree in Community Recreation from Southern Connecticut State University and became a Professional YMCA Director in 1996. He holds his Organizational Leader Certification from the YMCA of the USA and is a Faculty Trainer for the YMCA Day Camp Director Course. He has presented at several national conferences including several YMCA Program Expos, ACA New England Camping Conference, ACA Tri-State Camp Conference, the National YMCA Camping Conference, several regional YMCA Camp Conferences and the 125th YMCA Camping Celebration Conference. |