Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida names new CEO

Meet the new CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida.

The Winter Park-based nonprofit opened up a new chapter last month with the naming of Keith Padgett as its new CEO.

Padgett brings more than four decades of experience working with nonprofits, including three other CEO positions for Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations in Sacramento, Seattle and Los Angeles over a span of 13 years.

He served as the interim CEO for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida since February, looking to stabilize the organization through his nonprofit consulting company, Keith Padgett & Associates. The board of directors approached Padgett about staying and voted unanimously to give him the position permanently.

“I missed Big Brothers Big Sisters work, so when I got here I realized how much I missed it,” he said. “When they said ‘Why don’t you say?’ I was already thinking that myself.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters looks to provide one-on-one mentoring to children who need it, paving the way for a bright future through volunteers.

It’s a mission that’s near and dear to Padgett’s heart. The CEO has served as a Big Brother twice in the past.

“Mentoring is very important for everyone, and if you don’t have a father or mother consistently in your life, then you’re missing a role model that will teach you how to behave properly and to be successful and to have goals and ambitions,” Padgett said. “When I was about 10 years old, I lived in a lower/middle class area in San Diego, and I came from intact parents. I came home from school one day, and my father was talking to the neighborhood bully on the little stoop that we had. … Through my dad’s mentoring, that kid changed his behavior and became the neighborhood kid that everybody looked up to. Without thinking about it then, I saw the impact of mentoring that one person could have on someone’s life.”

Padgett’s career working in nonprofits and mentoring goes all the way back to to his college years at University of California, San Diego. He took a summer counselor job at a school nearby for emotionally disturbed boys, and upon graduation from college, the owners of the school approached him and asked Padgett if he would like to buy the school along with three other students.

Padgett agreed to pay a set amount every month like a mortgage, and at age 22 in 1970, he became the owner and operator.

“They saw something in me that I certainly didn’t see in myself,” he said. “It was an amazing opportunity that totally changed the direction of my life.”

Padgett owned that school for 13 years, even starting a second location. He eventually closed the two schools and went on to work at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sacramento in 1983.

He went on to work for the Multiple Sclerosis Society in San Diego, Big Brothers Big Sisters in Seattle, Big Brothers Big Sisters in Los Angeles, Boys and Girls Club of San Dieguito and The First Tee of San Diego before starting his consulting firm.

“The idea of the consulting firm was to work three or four months a year and play golf the rest of the time,” he said.

Now back at a Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, Padgett said his main goal he looks to accomplish is to match 400 children currently on a waiting list with a Big Brother or Big Sister within the next two years.

He’s excited to move things forward as the new CEO, knowing intimately the impact the organization can have on children, he said.

“It can change a child’s life in more significant ways than any program I’ve ever been with,” he said.