Charles Hansen, San Mateo, California, is chief program officer at Peninsula Family Service in San Mateo, California. He has previously served as chief operating officer and executive director of various YMCAs and executive director of Boys and Girls Club/Salvation Army. He also is starting his doctorate program in organizational change and leadership at the University of Southern California this summer. “I know to make impactful change in the nonprofit world it takes an empathetic heart and an understanding of people and relationships, which I attained at UNT,” he says. “I witnessed how hard my parents worked and what they sacrificed to pave a way for me and my sister to get an education. There is a sense of great pride I take in being able to be a part of building our legacy in America.”