Crossroads YMCA leader Jay Buckmaster builds connections that make big idea possible
Jay Buckmaster might not have been a Y kid growing up, but today, he is fully committed to helping others become one.
His road to becoming president and CEO of the Crossroads YMCA in Northwest Indiana was a bit of an accident, he said.
Buckmaster started off as a swimmer at the University of Wisconsin and needed a job after graduation. His plan was to teach, but he was recruited to work at the YMCA in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
“I really loved the environment, the impact you could make,” he said.
He thought he would be a swim coach his entire career, but an opportunity to oversee the Olympic-sized pool in Milwaukee led him to an expanded leadership role.
He then went to Wichita to help open a new 120,000-square-foot YMCA, and later to Tampa, Florida, because he was “a little tired of winters.”
“(I) quickly realized that I had to work most of the time, and so the beaches weren’t quite as accessible,” he said.
That position helped him focus on what mattered most to him.
“Each Y is run corporately different,” he said. “There is a different heartbeat to each Y.”
His first CEO job was in Michigan where a new Y had just opened.
“(I) learned pretty quickly … that I had to use all the experience I had prior to be able to move a lot of pieces around, gain some confidence, build some trust,” he said.
He started that job with one location and left it with four.
Those skills led to Indiana in 2018 and the Dean and Barbara White Southlake YMCA renovation and expansion in Crown Point. The 121,000-square-foot project cost $35 million and was opened in April 2019.
“(I) never thought I’d be in Indiana but really fell in love with that kind of Midwestern, hardworking, connected town,” he said.
Now he oversees nine locations that had 3.5 million visits in 2025. That number will only increase with the Gary YMCA set to open in September. It will be part of the $35 million Tolleston Opportunity Campus in partnership with the City of Gary, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana, Methodist Hospitals and Wintrust Bank.
When Buckmaster started, the Crossroads YMCA had only four locations with about 24,000 members. Now more than 155,000 members have signed up.
He also forged relationships with the YMCAs in Porter and La Porte counties to make it easier for members to visit a location where they work, live and play.
“We’re going to be aggressive to make sure that we provide the right facility at the right price and the right people leading this organization to be able to have those experiences,” he said.
He reinforced that his team, many of whom are mothers, supports members’ entire families.
“For the most part, moms are doing the heavy lifting,” he said, and YMCAs can help make those responsibilities a little easier by offering programs for everyone in the family.
Y membership means much more than fitness, he said.
“Now it’s about connection; it’s about belonging; it’s about achievement; it’s about overcoming; it’s all those things, and towns need these things to survive,” Buckmaster said. “It’s not an option anymore.”
People look for these amenities when they are looking for a place to live, he said. YMCAs also provide economic development, he said, lifting up entire communities.
“We’re seeing these partnerships start to bloom, where people want these amenities inside of their town because it’s more than just working out,” he said.
The beauty of the Crossroads YMCAs, he said, isn’t just offering a low-cost option.
“We didn’t take (members) from other fitness places. We took them out of their house, out of their basement, from inactivity,” he said. “(We) created spaces, places and programs to be able to create that connection, that wellness.”
Buckmaster isn’t afraid to think bigger.
The Hammond project, he said, really surprised people. The $70 million “destination” YMCA broke ground in April 2023 and opened in November 2024 next to the Hammond Sportsplex. It is 120,000 square feet.
But, he said, the community wasn’t on board at first. Now the location has 36,000 members.
“People want to be a part of something that aligns with their values,” he said.
Buckmaster’s dedicated team has seen firsthand how he can connect organizations and make big ideas bigger.
“We not only work here, we use it,” he said. “We’re very tied into the experiences because they’re our own.”
Todd Sevenz-Coleman relocated his family from North Carolina to Northwest Indiana in March 2020 just to continue working with Buckmaster. The two met in Milwaukee.
“I knew what a visionary leader he was,” said Sevenz-Coleman, chief asset officer at Crossroads YMCA. “There’s a lot of people who are visionary, but there aren’t as many people who can build relationships based on trust, across party lines and align dreams.
“I knew that before I got here.”
He said Buckmaster is a “legacy builder.”
“We all grow our families with this community,” Sevenz-Coleman said. “We are building YMCAs for ourselves, for our neighbors, for our community.”
Robin Tien, CFO, said Buckmaster’s passion brought her to the Y in November 2021. She moved to the Region for another job about 22 years ago.
“We stay here because of the Y,” Tien said.
Becky Cheek, chief people experience officer, joined the YMCA in May 2020.
“I wouldn’t sacrifice the time away from my children if I weren’t working for an organization that aligns so deeply with my values,” said Cheek, who noted she has made a career at the Y.
“He takes his responsibility incredibly serious.”
Buckmaster said he has been accused of being visionary and inspirational.
“I do see things that maybe aren’t there yet and try to connect the dots,” he said. “I think that I am collaborative in that way.”
But he also knows that at “the end of the day, somebody’s got to make a decision,” he said.
Buckmaster’s goal for the future of Crossroads YMCA isn’t small. He wants 200,000 members in Lake County, which only has a population of about 504,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We think by 2030 we can do that,” he said.
He also wants Northwest Indiana to earn “healthiest community in America.”
But, then again, Buckmaster is thinking bigger.
“We want to be the most successful and impactful Y in the entire world,” he said. •
Read more stories from the current issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Flexibility for working mother
Heroic values on display
One-stop print shop
Avoid the unexpected
Childcare challenge
Beyond the prescription pad
New life for dormant buildings
Banks keep branching out
Professional advancement
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