Women's History Month: Leading With Strength and Care

How Sara Biancofiori's 20-plus years at the Y taught her that strength and care aren't opposites, they're the whole job.

Every March, Women's History Month invites us to pause and recognize the women whose leadership shapes the communities around us. This year, as the YMCA of Greater Seattle celebrates 150 years of service, we're proud to spotlight Sara Biancofiori, our Vice President of Youth Development, whose Y service of more than two decades tell a story about what it really means to show up for people. 

"What feels most meaningful to me right now is the visibility of women who lead with both strength and care," she said. "Women who hold complex systems together, make hard decisions, and still center people, especially children and families."

A Globe, a Suitcase, and Camp Orkila

Sara grew up in Indiana, working at the Y while putting herself through college. When her boss suggested a summer camp internship, she and a colleague spun a globe and landed on Washington. She applied to two camps, interviewed with both Camp Colman and Camp Orkila, and when Orkila offered her the job first, she came west with a roller suitcase, her first plane ticket, and no idea what she was walking into.

She called her mom that first week convinced she didn't belong. Everyone around her seemed more prepared, more polished, more at home. But something shifted over that summer, and by the time it ended, so had she. 

"What I didn’t know was that camp was about to teach me far more than I would ever teach the kids," Sara said. What she learned included "What it feels like to be seen. What it feels like to belong. By the end of that summer, I knew I needed to live here." 

She went back to Indiana, finished school, and returned to Orkila as a summer camp director. She never really left. Over the next two decades, she grew into regional leadership, branch operations, and eventually back to where it all started: youth development.

The Moment She Carries with Her

There is a story Sara returns to often when she thinks about why this work matters. 

A mother came to a Y branch with three young children. Her oldest was at an age where fear was starting to have real consequences, and she was scared about what might happen if he ever found himself near water without the skills to stay safe. The mother had already been turned away elsewhere. She didn't know where else to go. 

Sara listened. She asked questions. And then she found a way to make it work for that family. 

All three children learned to swim. 

Years later, the oldest became a youth board member at the Y. He went on to a top university, where he is now working to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. His siblings are thriving. 

Then, recently, that mother reached out and asked to meet. She came to the Y, looked at Sara, and said: "You changed our lives." She told Sara she had walked in that day feeling like she was failing her children. The Y said yes when no one else would. 

"She knew the Y was a safe place," Sara said. "It still is for her and her family." 

"Leadership isn't about titles. It's about responsibility. It's about showing up when things are messy and staying committed to people."

Strength and Care Are Not Opposites

Before delivering hard news, she names the reason behind the decision and how the team will be supported through it. She names it when she's scared. She admits it when she doesn't have the answer. To Sara, strength shows up in clarity and courage. Care shows up in how it's delivered. 

Sara credits her mother as her earliest model of this kind of leadership. "She taught me that leadership is about responsibility, about taking care of what's in front of you," Sara said. "I still hear her voice when I need to be braver than I feel." 

Sara credits her mother as her earliest model of this kind of leadership. "She taught me that leadership is about responsibility, about taking care of what's in front of you," Sara said. "I still hear her voice when I need to be braver than I feel." 

For early-career women, especially those who find themselves the only one in the room, her advice is direct: 

"You don't have to earn the right to be in the room. You already belong there. Ask the question. Say the thing. And don't confuse being uncomfortable with being unqualified."

150 Years of Showing Up

One hundred and fifty years is a long time to keep a promise. But that is exactly what the YMCA of Greater Seattle has done— showing up for children, families, and communities across generations, through moments of joy and moments of real need. 

Sara's story is woven into that legacy. So is the story of that mother and her children. So is every staff member who ever looked at a barrier and chose to find another way around it. People and moments like those add up to countless people walking through a Y door not sure if they belonged, and leaving with the knowledge they do. 

Women's History Month is a reminder that this kind of leadership — steady, human, and deeply committed — has always existed, even when it wasn't recognized or named. The work of leaders now is is to make it visible so the next generation of leaders knows it's possible. 

The Y is for all. It always has been. And it is leaders who are strong and caring like Sara who make sure it stays that way.