Lisa Christian joined the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh in the fall of 2003 and has been with the YMCA for more than 25 years.

Before coming to the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, she was vice president of operations at the YMCA of San Francisco; executive director of the Peninsula Family YMCA in San Mateo, California; and senior physical director and associate executive director of the Morris Center YMCA in Morristown, New Jersey. Lisa has special expertise in volunteer recruitment and development, operational fiscal planning and strategic planning and implementation.

Lisa is a graduate of Sheperd College in Sheperdstown, West Virginia. She lives with her husband and daughter in Wexford.

John became District Vice President and Executive Director of the Downtown YMCA in February of 2004. His YMCA experience includes the position of Executive Director & District Vice President YMCA of South Hampton Roads, Norfolk, VA

John's diverse background in health and wellness includes program development and plan implementation, marketing, corporate wellness initiatives, community and corporate partnerships, sustaining funding, budget management, and membership growth. Most recently, corporate and community wellness facilities and programming have been the focus in his roles with the Downtown YMCA and Activate Pittsburgh and he was appointed Vice President of Activate Pittsburgh, the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh's community health and wellness initiative.

For several years, as Major Accounts Business Development at FitLinxx, John devoted a significant amount of time to business development of one of the nation's leaders in technology for tracking personal exercise progress over time. He also played a significant role in the retailing, manufacturing and the strategic growth of the technology.

John attended Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.S. in Speech Communications / Public Relations. He and his wife Tracy reside in Hampton with their three daughters.

Vice President of Camping Services, Executive director, Camp Kon-O-Kwee/Spencer

Rick Deer is responsible for directing and supervising all programs and facilities for Camp Kon-O-Kwee/Spencer, Deer Valley Family Camp and the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh day camps. He previously served 13 years as Executive Director of the Deer Valley Family Camp.

Prior to working at the Deer Valley YMCA, Rick was the executive director for Richland Youth Foundation in Gibsonia, PA and served as a program director from 1975-1978 for the Wilmerding and Penn Hills YMCAs.   He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University and is currently pursuing
graduate work in Parks & Recreation at Slippery Rock and in the MBA program at Frostburg State University.

Gary has been with the YMCA for 21 years, 18 years as an executive. Gary is former executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southwestern Pennsylvania and was also a caseworker for Catholic Charities and a counselor at Auberle Home.

Gary's community service includes a stint as president of both the Penn Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Penn Hills Kiwanis. He is president of the First United Methodist Church in McKeesport and former treasurer and board member of Chapter 15 of the Association of YMCA Professionals.

Gary has a bachelor's degree in Administration of Justice from the University of Pittsburgh. He lives with his wife and children in North Versailles.

As Vice President, Richard Perallo will oversee capital project management and facility and property management of all 17 YMCA properties in the greater Pittsburgh area.

“Richard is a highly capable executive with substantial property management experience,” said Eric Mann, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. “He will help the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh become an even more valuable resource for the people of our region by leading our efforts to improve our facilities and make them more cost-effective.”

Mr. Perallo previously served as Senior Operations Manager for MOC, Inc., where he assisted in or managed the facilities of the Mellon Financial corporate headquarters, Gateway Center,  Steelworkers Building, Verizon Building,  the Carnegie Science Center and UPMC Sportsworks.  He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Association of Energy Engineers, among other professional affiliations.  Richard Perallo and his wife Elizabeth are residents of North Strabane Township, Pennsylvania.  He is a graduate of Canevin High School and Point Park University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology. 

Emily Renner began working with the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh in November 2005. Ms. Renner was Executive Director of the East YMCA branch of the YMCA of Greater St. Paul. She has also worked in a Head Start program in Iowa and was a Branch Director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, in Minneapolis.

Ms. Renner, based out of the Homewood-Brushton YMCA, is the first to hold the newly-created Urban District Vice President post. This position was created to address the special needs for the kinds of community outreach programs the YMCA now provides. She is continuing the standard of quality in providing youth and family services and working to make those services available to even more people in the urban communities. Her primary responsibilities are to expand wellness programs, membership services, provide leadership support for Executive staff, build relationships with volunteers and to position the YMCA to become a leader in the surrounding communities for youth and family services.