Gary Laermer

Gary Laermer is responsible for all philanthropic and charitable giving programs for the YMCA of Greater New York.

Gary joined the YMCA of Greater New York in early 2010, from the position of President & Chief Executive Officer of the Community YMCA in Monmouth County, NJ, a five-branch YMCA association with a $14 million annual budget. His tenure saw that YMCA’s first seven-figure charitable gift and the dramatic growth of programs and services offered families with children that have special needs, with a focus on those children diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Gary moved The Community YMCA into a position of an important community health asset, leading to his appointment by Governor Jon Corzine to the New Jersey Council on Fitness and Sports in 2009. Since 2011 Gary has been serving as Director of the New York City chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals.

As Vice President of Development & External Affairs for Staten Island University Hospital, Gary raised nearly $20 million, including a federal appropriation for the first dedicated pediatric emergency room on the Island and led the campaign for Care and Healing to expand emergency services to the Borough’s 500,000 residents and build the hospital’s first library and education center.