Female pioneers have shaped the YMCA's legacy through groundbreaking leadership and innovative contributions. Here are the remarkable women who transformed the organization:

Ellen Brown became the first female YMCA employee in 1886 as the "boys work secretary." Her night class was so successful it evolved into an entire department.

Addie Hunton served as one of only three African American women supporting over 200,000 segregated Black troops in France during World War I. She also held positions as YWCA secretary for Black student work and NAACP vice president.

Marguerite Cockett, a 1905 Women's Medical College graduate, established the first YMCA American Expeditionary Forces canteen in 1917. She worked as an ambulance driver in France and helped establish a French-Serbian hospital.

Winifred Colton championed women's advancement in the YMCA, beginning as women's and girls' work secretary in Chicago. She became the first woman professional on the national staff when the YMCA's purpose expanded beyond "males only" in 1957.

Xinia Brenes Jenkins, a founding member of the San Jose YMCA, helped establish the Costa Rican YMCA. She developed programs for refugees, addressed housing shortages, and created vocational training for women and agricultural skills programs.

Violet P. Henry made history in 1976 as the first woman in top management at the Y's national office, after leading Newark and Chicago YMCAs. She championed women's and minority rights through various national and international committees.

Wilhelmina "Willie" Aveling started as a physical director and spent 28 years improving women's programs at the Chicago Metropolitan YMCA. She became the first woman inducted into the YMCA National Hall of Fame.

Suzanne McCormick achieved a historic milestone in 2021 by becoming YMCA of the USA's first female CEO.

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