Downing to leave Sonoma Valley Boys & Girls Club board

Dub Hay will step in as Board Chair|

Erin Downing, board chair of Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley, announced this week that she is stepping down from her position and resigning from the board.

'It is with mixed emotion that I leave the board of directors,' she said in a release issued Feb. 15 by the Club. 'I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such a capable and talented group of people and I am incredibly proud of the changes we make in the lives of our members every day.'

Downing's decision comes four months before the end of her term. She said the decision was based on personal factors, including a move from Sonoma to Napa, the enrollment of her daughter in school there, and the retirement of her husband, Dale Downing, former co-owner of Sonoma and Glen Ellen markets.

Downing expects to continue to serve on various BGCSV committees.

'Erin has led the Board to set and achieve higher goals in all areas,' said Boys & Girls Club executive director Robert Hughes in the release. 'She has inspired staff leadership to develop new programs to attract more members. Her successful fundraising efforts have ensured these programs will continue.

Stepping in as Board Chair will be Dub Hay, a retired vice president of Starbucks' Global Coffee Authority and a three-year board member for the Boys & Girls Clubs.

In a joint statement, Hay and Hughes said, 'On behalf of the board of directors, staff and youth and families we serve, we thank Erin for her selfless service to BGCSV during these seven years. It is with deep gratitude and in tribute to her leadership we will continue to fulfill the goals she set.'

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