Tim Blaylock, longtime executive of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, is leaving the post to join the national organization, Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Blaylock has spent 12 years as the chief professional officer of the Oxnard Boys & Girls Clubs. He will now join Boys & Girls Clubs of America as the national organization’s director of major metropolitan area clubs for nine states in the Pacific region.

He will start the position on July 1 and will be based in Oxnard.

“I’m grateful for this challenge, and delighted to stay in Oxnard,” Blaylock said in a statement. “I will miss the day-to-day interactions with my team, donors, volunteers and board of directors, but know the club is in great hands and will continue to thrive with the community’s continued support.”

During his tenure, Blaylock grew the Oxnard organization’s budget from $900,000 to $4.5 million, board President Sean Leonard said, and increased the club’s membership from 3,000 to 9,000.
“He has enabled this organization to reach thousands more children, helping more youth create a better future for themselves and their families,” Leonard said in a statement.

The club also established the state’s first Boys & Girls Club inside the Juvenile Justice Center for incarcerated youth. Blaylock pioneered partnerships with the Workforce Investment Board, the Ventura County Probation Department and with local school districts and launched initiatives in academic support, the arts, technology and cultural diversity.

He established a free-standing, dedicated teen center where young people get full-service help with career and college preparation, including help with the tests and application paperwork involved with schools, grants, scholarships and housing. “Nearly every one of our college-bound kids is the first in their family to attend college, and most are the first to finish high school,” Blaylock said. “Without the Club, they wouldn’t have anyone to help them navigate the system.”

The club also refurbished the Harriet H. Samuelsson Clubhouse and the original Boys Club of Oxnard and started a program to combat childhood obesity.

The club leaders said its leaders will convene next week to begin planning its leadership transition.