Kristin Goncalves
The Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield has announced that Kristin Goncalves, director of operations and long-time Keystone adviser, was awarded the National Keystone Advisor of the Year at this year’s National Keystone Conference in Orlando, Fla. The award is presented to an adviser who inspires and challenges teens to develop leadership skills to make a lasting impact on the world. The teens in the Ridgefield Tigers Keystone Club were responsible for nominating Goncalves.
In 2009, Goncalves took over the Keystone program.
Since Goncalves took on the adviser position, the Ridgefield Tigers Keystone Club has attended five regional conferences and six national conferences. During Goncalves’ tenure, several Ridgefield Tigers Keystone members have been on the regional conference steering committees, as well as on the steering committees for national conferences.
In 2013, the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield was selected by the Northeast Regional Keystone Council to host the Northeast Regional Summit, where more than 325 Keystone Club members from Boys & Girls Clubs across the Northeast descended on Ridgefield. Kristin was one of the co-managers, responsible for planning and organizing the entire conference. Additionally, she was awarded the 2012-13 Northeast Regional Keystone Advisor of the Year for her outstanding dedication to the Ridgefield Tigers Keystone Club and the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield.
During the national conferences in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Ridgefield Tigers Keystone Club received eight National Keystone Awards for planned and implemented projects in the areas of community service, teen outreach, career preparation, and academic success, and was named the Keystone Club of the Year in 2011-12. It was also invited to the annual Gold Social to celebrate achieving the Gold Level Charter, the highest charter a Keystone Club can hold. In 2014, the Ridgefield Tigers Keystone Club was inducted into the inaugural class of the Legacy Society, an elite society of Keystone Clubs that achieve and maintain the Gold Charter Level for a minimum of two years.
“What Kristin has done here is remarkable. She is the MVP of the staff. When she started here six or seven years ago, we immediately knew she had the natural skills to be a tremendous professional,” said Mike Flynn, executive director at the Boys & Girls Club. “She has grown to be one of the top youth professionals in the Boys & Girls Club movement. Her work in program development is a national benchmark. She inspires and guides our younger professionals every day, and is a true leader. Her passion, dedication, and talent have taken not only the Keystone Club, but our Boys & Girls Club, to a heightened level. The Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield would not be where it is today without her. We are lucky to have such a tremendous asset to the club and as a part of the Ridgefield community.”
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