Heath's John Wilson to lead Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Licking County
NEWARK ― After 17 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Licking and Perry counties will have a new executive director.
John A. Wilson II, a 1999 Heath graduate and Children’s Pastor at Christian Life Center in Heath for nearly 15 years, has been selected to replace Jennifer Utrevis, who retired at the end of 2022.
"I have great confidence in John and his abilities to continue our progress in Licking and Perry counties,” Utrevis said in a press release. "He has over 14 years of experience ministering to children and serving the youth of the community, and is passionate about helping those most in need."
"This organization has been blessed to have a transformational leader, Jennifer Utrevis, at the helm for more than 18 years," Wilson said. "I want to continue the life-changing legacy that she is leaving, by continuing to grow our volunteer base within both Licking and Perry counties so that we can serve as many children as possible. There are so many amazing and caring people on the staff here and within our community. It is humbling to have this opportunity to lead this organization into the future."
He received his Masters in Communications from Franklin University in 2014. Wilson worked at the Energy Cooperative for over a decade before spending the last seven years at Spectrum in Columbus. He and his wife, Kimberly, have been married for 22 years and have four children.
Wilson has a proven record of developing strategic partnerships in the community to reach shared goals. He brings to the position demonstrated success at managing systems, driving innovation, and developing relationships with individuals, businesses, and foundations to work together in aligning programmatic initiatives within the community.
"Our agency is wonderfully positioned to grow and serve more children throughout Licking and Perry counties,” said Brad Feightner Jr., Board President of BBBS of Licking & Perry counties. "John’s experience will help us expand upon the strong foundation that Jennifer and her staff have built. We are thrilled to have an individual with his background as our next executive director and are looking forward to witnessing his passion for our community.”
For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor- and volunteer-supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 14, in communities across the community. For more information, visit www.bbbslp.org.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Heath's John Wilson to lead Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Licking County
