Lauren S. Koontz CEO+President, Metro Atlanta YMCA
Board Chair, Lab Atlanta 2.0
As president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta, Lauren Koontz leads the organization’s efforts to ensure that all people — especially children — experience an equal opportunity to fully reach their potential. With a career spent in educational and health nonprofit development, she’s committed to the purpose of making the Y a thought-leader and best-in-class provider of education, wellness and youth development programs designed to strengthen Atlanta communities. She is the first woman president and CEO in the YMCA of Metro Atlanta’s history.
Functionally, she is responsible for the overall success of the Atlanta Association’s 18 membership branches, 13 early learning centers, 50+ after school program sites, two youth and teen development centers, two resident camps, the newly completed Leadership & Learning Center, and the teams of employees and volunteers who bring these places and programs to life.
Lauren joined the YMCA of Metro Atlanta in 2012 as its Chief Development Officer and was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer in 2016. As such, she was responsible for oversight of all fundraising efforts, including annual campaigns, capital campaigns, and endowed and planned gifts; management of six membership and youth development branches; the Y’s early learning programs; day and resident camps; teen leadership programs; and marketing and communications functions.
Previously, Lauren served in development leadership roles at Coxe Curry & Associates, Emory University School of Medicine, Mount Vernon Presbyterian School, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, where she was named by the CEO to the organization’s National Strategic Steering Committee and was the youngest associate appointed.
As a volunteer and board member, Lauren specializes in board training, and strategic planning and advancement. Currently, she’s the founding Chair for Lab Atlanta, Inc., an innovative school model that seeks to develop civically engaged, design-minded leaders, focused on building a vibrant, sustainable future for themselves and the city of Atlanta.
In 2018, Lauren was named to Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2018. In 2016, she received the YMCA’s highest honor — the “Sully” Award, named for Thomas Sullivan, YMCA’s founder in the U.S. — for exemplifying the mission and values of the YMCA. In 2013, she was named among the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 Under 40.”
A Georgia native, Lauren grew up on St. Simons Island. She received a BBA from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Georgia State University. Lauren is married to Brad Koontz, a technology executive, and they have two children, Kate, 15, and Sam, 12.