By Wendy Greenberg

Judy Hutton

In 2007 Judy Hutton, CEO of YWCA Princeton, and her counterpart at the Trenton YWCA were discussing racism within the broader community, when they decided they should go a step further. She recalled both asking, “But what are we doing to eliminate it?”

And so Stand Against Racism was born, and a few years later was adopted by the national YWCAs. “Until we eliminate racism,” said Hutton, “we’re really not empowering women.”

Stand Against Racism is among the many successful programs Hutton will leave as her legacy at the YWCA Princeton when the she retires June 30 after leading the organization for 13 years. Board President Megan Adams announced Hutton’s retirement in a recent letter, posted on the Y’s website, in which she stated, “The YWCA Princeton, and the greater Mercer County community, has benefited immensely from Judy’s leadership and vision for a world free from inequity.” Adams called Stand Against Racism a program “that will forever stand out.”

Hutton, speaking in her office, said she felt that this is a good point in her life to retire because the Y has a “great direction, and a great strategic plan. I feel like I’m leaving a great organization in a solid place.” The YWCA Princeton, with its 3,000 members, is a member organization of YWCA USA, which is one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the U.S., serving over two million women, girls, and their families.

A board of directors committee has embarked on a search for Hutton’s successor, said Adams in her letter.

The national Stand Against Racism theme in 2020 is Civic Engagement, with a focus on voter rights and registration and participation in the 2020 census. The program, after its first event 15 years ago, has evolved into conversations with women and leaders about equity in the workplace and education. “I have to be there with my sisters in this fight,” said Hutton. “It was nice to be able to not only call the question, but to do something. It’s the thing I’m probably most proud of.”

There is a lot to be proud of in her long career. Hutton, 64, has been involved in running nonprofits for 40 years, most of which were around-the-clock jobs that involved keeping up with trends, supervising and administering programs and staff, and raising money. “It’s time for another person to come on, and it’s time to do things for myself,” she said.

Hutton came to the YWCA after running Anchor House, a longstanding Trenton shelter for homeless, abused, and at-risk youths. When she turned 50, she needed a change, she said, and the YWCA Princeton position opened. She related to the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.

The national YWCAs allow local affiliates to encourage programs that are needed in the communities they serve, and YWCA Princeton identified a need for affordable quality child care. The Young Wonders Child Development Center, a partner of Princeton Public Schools’ pre-school program, provides child care for some 100 children ages 8 weeks to 6 years during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and offers a bi-lingual component. Hutton said she has enjoyed developing “first-class child care with a developmentally appropriate curriculum and assessment built-into the programs” so that the attendees are kindergarten-ready. “Teachers tell us all the time that our children are ready for kindergarten,” she said.

YWCA Princeton’s influence extends throughout Mercer County, and Hutton was at the helm when it decided to take on Trenton’s Latinas Unidas, a support network for Latina women and their  families. “When the Trenton Y was winding down services in 2015, we said, ‘let’s take it on’ because it is needed in Trenton,” she said.

In 2016, she pioneered NEXT GEN, which fulfills the goal of developing women and women of color under age 30 into the next group of leaders. It is one of only two YWCA young women’s professional boards in the country.

YWCA Princeton’s Breast Cancer Resource Center has given Hutton many personal interactions with women, including some she knew personally. “It’s changed many women’s lives,” she said of the center, which offers transportation assistance to critical medical appointments, fitness and wellness programs, support, outreach, and education.

Hutton, who grew up in Long Branch, currently lives in Bordentown. She said was always interested in changing lives, especially since reading, in high school, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which chronicles unsafe working conditions and the exploitation of immigrants and laborers. “It upset me greatly,” she said.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s degree in education from The College of New Jersey. She worked as a counselor at an agency, but eventually saw the advantages of being in administration and leadership, to make a bigger difference.

It’s no coincidence that a large poster of Eleanor Roosevelt hangs in her office at the Y. Mrs. Roosevelt has been an inspiration to Hutton, “so caring and giving,” she said. Being a collaborator by nature, treating everyone with respect and listening, are some traits that have helped her successfully run nonprofits.

Hutton has served as president of the Garden State Coalition of Youth and Family Concerns, and was named Mercer County’s Professional of the Year in 2004. She received the 2014 Community Leader of the Year Award from the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, and, the same year, was recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Her hopes for the YWCA Princeton are to continue to expand child care and English as a Second Language (ESL) services and programs. She enjoys seeing ESL learners become citizens and hearing from women who are helped by the Breast Cancer Resource Center. “I get a lot of personal satisfaction from people saying that a Y program changed their lives,” she said.

She is interested in expanded the all-girls robotics teams. The first two were registered in 2015, now the YWCA runs year-round robotics  programs.

There are aspects she will miss. “One thing about this community, the nonprofits work together and we solve problems,” she said. Currently several nonprofits are looking at the issue of food insecurity in children, working with schools and child care centers.

Right now Hutton is busy planning the 2020 Tribute to Women Awards, to be held on March 26. In retirement, she intends to go to the beach and take trips, and “think.” She said, “I want to give back to the community, but I don’t know what that will look like yet.”

Chances are she will remain an activist. “We’re not done,” she said. “I have to keep advocating. Just because I am leaving the Y, I’m still going to advocate for women.”