Central Indiana Youth For Christ Names Dr. Dara Berkharter as its Next CEO

June 1, 2022 (Indianapolis) – Central Indiana Youth for Christ (CIYFC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Dara Berkharter as its new Executive Director.

Prior to joining CIYFC, Dr. Berkharter served as Chief Advancement Officer at SpringHill Camps, where she developed and implemented a sales strategy that significantly increased revenue generation to $1 million. Her leadership was pivotal in overseeing marketing and branding efforts, leading to enhanced sales, registrations, and donor engagement. Dr. Berkharter also cultivated a portfolio of 25 major donor relationships, exceeding fundraising goals and ensuring the organization's financial success.

With a Doctorate of Education from the University of Pennsylvania, her dissertation focused on "Advancing Diversity: The Journey of Two Christian Colleges Developing an Explicit Institutional Commitment to Diversity." Dr. Berkharter's commitment to diversity and inclusion aligns seamlessly with CIYFC's values.

In her role as Chief Development Officer at SpringHill Camps, Dr. Berkharter restructured the development team for greater fundraising optimization. She developed new processes and procedures to retain mass and mid-level donors, fostering strong relationships with major donor prospects. Her collaboration with the President and Board of Directors ensured fundraising goals aligned with the organizational mission.

Dr. Berkharter also served as a Visiting Professor at Taylor University and Missio Seminary, where she imparted her knowledge on professional development and organizational change to students.

CIYFC established a search committee and engaged Talbott Talent, a nonprofit executive recruiting firm, to carry out an extensive and inclusive national search. Talbott Talent employed a recruitment-based approach, proactively seeking out the best and most qualified candidates to lead an organization. The search firm worked with the search committee to ensure the search was inclusive, engaging strategies to recruit a diverse pool of qualified candidates and executing a fair and consistent interview process. Dr. Berkharter was selected to serve as CIYFC’s Executive Director and will begin his role effective June 1, 2022.

Central Indiana Youth for Christ (CIYFC)’s mission is to reach young people everywhere, working together with the local church and other like-minded partners to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus who lead by their godliness in lifestyle, devotion to prayer and the Word of God, passion for sharing the love of Christ and commitment to social involvement.