YWCA Columbus is gearing up to celebrate 140 years of service with a gala on Oct. 3 at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel. Since 1886, the nonprofit has fought to eliminate racism and empower women through a combination of community service and activism.
Originally deemed the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union by its five founders, YWCA Columbus operates in a different world today than it did 140 years ago. However, many of the issues it addresses for local women and families remain the same.
Reflecting on YWCA’s major milestones
YWCA Columbus CEO Elizabeth Brown said the organization has always been “on the forward edge of progress.” One thing she is most proud of in the nonprofit’s history is that it has always been led by women.
During the Civil Rights Movement, YWCAs
across the country took a stand for integration well ahead of many other institutions, Brown said. When Japanese families were being held in internment camps, YWCA Columbus opened its doors to them. The Urban League president wrote a letter to the executive director of YWCA Columbus congratulating the organization on efforts toward integrating its cafeteria in 1938.
Brown also said work from leaders who came before her, like former YWCA Columbus CEO Christie Angel, has paved the way for the organization to stand against racial inequality more effectively today.
“In 2020, when George Floyd was murdered, we had the capability and the expertise developed to really show up in the community, how the community needed us at that time to advance our understanding of racial equity,” Brown said.
Why YWCA Columbus is needed now more than ever
Today, YWCA Columbus oversees two housing programs. The Family Center, a family-focused emergency shelter, housed 700 members of the community experiencing homelessness in 2025, including 400 children. The Women’s Residency Program, a permanent supportive housing program in downtown Columbus, currently serves 91 women.
In addition to safe housing, YWCA Columbus also provides childcare for local families at 25 different locations in Columbus, Gahanna and Westerville.
Leadership programs like the Bright Futures Program and the Kathy Duffy Espy Leadership for Social Change Program also equip local girls and young women with the skills and confidence they need not only to succeed, but to enact positive change in their communities. Additionally, YWCA’s Justice, Equity & Belonging interactive training services, formerly recognized as DE&I training, are designed to help individuals understand racism and how to consciously combat it.
Brown continues YWCA mission
Brown, a former Columbus City Council member, became CEO of YWCA Columbus in 2023. Just two years later, Columbus CEO magazine recognized her as 2025 CEO of the Year for large nonprofits. But Brown’s history with the organization dates back far beyond 2023. It starts with her grandmother, Emily Campbell Brown.
While Campbell Brown never held an executive role with YWCA Columbus, she was an avid volunteer who helped create the Ohio Council of YWCAs, which still exists today. In fact, Brown started as president of the organization herself in 2025.
“Not only do I believe in the mission and working at that intersection of eliminating racism and empowering women as just one of the most powerful places to do work,” Brown said, “but also I grew up admiring the organization itself, how it serves people, how it advocates for people.”
What’s next for YWCA Columbus?
At the Oct. 3 gala, YWCA Columbus will roll out the orange carpet for attendees and celebrate the organization’s long history of service and advocacy. But rather than focusing solely on past accomplishments, Brown is already thinking about how the nonprofit can continue to remain on that cutting edge, meeting current and future community needs.
YWCA Columbus’ current strategic plan includes serving more children through its childcare programs and continuing to house more women and families in need of shelter, taking part in providing the housing solutions YWCA has long been advocating for.
By the organization’s 200th anniversary? Brown hopes homelessness ceases to exist.
“I sure hope we figure that out in 60 years, and that we are in a community where YWCA is needed for the continued focus on empowering women and eliminating racism,” Brown said. “But that we don't have to be catching people as they've fallen through the most important safety net there is, which is shelter over your head.”
For more information about YWCA Columbus' 140th anniversary gala, visit ywcacolumbus.org/140years.
Reporter Kelly Tucker can be reached at ktucker@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: YWCA Columbus marks 140 years with a vision to end homelessness
