The YWCA Minneapolis board has picked Michelle Basham as its next president and CEO, effective Jan. 6.

Since 2016, she’s served as executive director of The Bridge for Youth, a Minneapolis nonprofit focused on services for homeless youth.

This won’t be Basham’s first time leading a YWCA chapter. In 2014, she was tapped to lead the YWCA of Delaware, a role she held through 2016.

Basham has more than 20 years of leadership in the nonprofit and public sectors. In 1993, she launched Avenues for Homeless Youth, the first shelter for homeless youth in Minneapolis. Kate Berman, chair of YWCA Minneapolis, said Basham has “demonstrated strong leadership in both fulfilling commitments to our community and developing her service teams in all her previous roles.”

Basham will replace interim CEOs Ramya Rauf and Kari Clark, who filled in after Luz Maria Frias stepped down in April. Frias was recognized as a 2019 “person to know” by TCB.