Four weeks on the job, with the budget process under way, Maury Young, the new chief financial officer at The Jewish Community of Louisville is happily in the learning stages of his new position.
This, he said, is the most enjoyable part of his work.
“It’s an opportunity for me,” Young said. “We’re working on the budget process now…. I’m looking at it as an opportunity. I get to meet and interact with the department heads, sitting down and talking to them. I’m treating it as a learning opportunity.”
Young started as CFO in February, succeeding Ed Hickerson, who retired after five years with The J.
“We feel fortunate to have Maury on board as we embark on major efforts in the near future, including a capital campaign and construction of a new building,” said JCL President and CEO Sara Klein Wagner. “He is thoughtful, strategic and brings unique experiences from his accounting and banking background.”
A Georgetown native and Western Kentucky University graduate, Young, 40, had spent his career in the banking and finance industries before moving to the JCL and the nonprofit sector.
There are obvious differences, of course. Publicly held for-profit businesses rely on profit, investment and loans for the resources to do their jobs. The JCL and other NPOs rely on donations and membership.
Profit or nonprofit, though, Young said the “bedrock” of his work – producing reliable financial information for the rest of the organization – does not change.
“At the end of the day, you’re just trying to manage resources,” he said.
Prior to joining the JCL, Young was the treasurer of First Savings Financial Group in Clarksville, Indiana. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as the controller for Your Community Bankshares, Inc. in New Albany, Indiana. He started his career in 1999 as an audit manager for BKD in Louisville.
He lives in Louisville with his wife, Laura, and his daughter, Ava.
“There’s always going to be a need for it (the nonprofit sector), to fill services in areas our community needs.”
He said he knew the JCL was the right place for him when he first read the job description.
“It was one of those things,” he said. I was reading, and it spoke to me. It matched up well with my skill set.”