NC Alliance of YMCAs board chair Lynn Lomax announced Paige Hughes Binfield will serve as the Alliance’s next CEO, effective November 3, 2025.
Binfield, who currently serves as the director of development for the YMCA Alliance of Northern New England, is a dynamic YMCA leader with 10 years of experience in fund development, grassroots advocacy and nonprofit management. A proud product of the YMCA, Paige grew up in the Y’s afterschool program, summer day camp, and most notably the Youth and Government program where she served as youth governor and a presiding officer at the Conference on National Affairs at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly.
“The NC Alliance of YMCAs Board of Directors is thrilled to welcome Paige to the Alliance and North Carolina. Her passion for the YMCA mission, her proven ability to build partnerships and secure resources, her advocacy expertise and her lifelong connection to the Y make her uniquely suited to lead us into the future,” said Lomax in a press release. “We look forward to her leadership to further strengthen our collective work across the state to expand our impact in the communities we serve.”
Binfield’s History
Binfield began her professional YMCA career with the Alliance of New York State YMCAs, serving five years as the director of Healthy Living. In that role, she led statewide chronic disease prevention and management programs for 37 YMCAs, coordinated advocacy efforts and secured over $2 million in state funding for the Y’s community health priorities. She also partnered with the University at Albany on three research projects related to the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards in YMCA childcare programs, earning national recognition from the Afterschool Alliance and the Society of Public Health Educators, and co-authoring two journal manuscripts.
Today, Binfield serves as Director of Development for the YMCA Alliance of Northern New England, representing 25 independent YMCAs across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. She manages a $200,000 annual fund development plan, leads strategic communications, coordinates special events and expands professional development opportunities for YMCA staff and volunteers to strengthen the Y’s regional impact.
Previously, Binfield was the director of philanthropy at United Way of the Greater Capital Region, where she led a $4 million fundraising strategy, launched the area’s first regional day of giving and expanded corporate partnerships across eight counties. She has also worked in private healthcare technology and in the New York State legislature.
An active member of her community, Binfield chairs the annual campaign for the Guilderland YMCA’s Advisory Council, a branch of the Capital District YMCA.
She earned her YMCA Team Leader Certification in 2019, was named a YMCA of the USA 30 Under 30 honoree in 2021 and received the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region’s Resourceful Women’s Emerging Professional Award in 2023. She holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning from Manhattan University and an MBA in nonprofit management from Springfield College.
