United Way of Peterborough and District CEO Jim Russell has announced plans to retire next summer, ending a tenure that began in 2011 and made him the longest-serving chief executive in the organization’s history.
Russell moved to Peterborough from Toronto to take on the role and has since overseen more than $36 million in total revenue raised through community campaigns, grants, individual donations and federal funding.
His leadership has been marked by a strong focus on poverty and homelessness, as well as the development of key local research, including housing and income adequacy reports and multiple Point-in-Time Counts.
Board chair Karen Wilson credited Russell’s leadership on some of the city’s most pressing social issues and said a CEO hiring committee will begin a comprehensive search for his successor in January 2026, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
(Written by: Jordan Mercier)
