Meet Jon Lugbill | Non-profit Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jon Lugbill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jon, how do you think about risk?
In my personal life I’m not that much of a risk taker except when it comes to outdoor adventure sports. As a whitewater paddler, I used to drop off waterfalls and paddle very difficult whitewater rivers throughout the world. My confidence was extremely high in part due to being in great shape physically, but also because of all of my training to be precise in whitewater. In a way, the risk taking was partly a showcase for my paddling abilities to myself. I still paddle, rock climb, mountain bike and trail run doing one of these activities nearly every day.

I think this background in outdoor adventure sports has helped me to be more of a risk taker than many of my peers that use sporting events and programs to improve the quality of life for their residents. We own more events and are aggressive about creating new ones. At the start of the pandemic, it became very obvious to me and my co-workers that we all had a very different tolerance for the very ambiguous world we all of a sudden were living in at work. We had never organized events and programs during a pandemic and the old ways we did things had to be set aside and we had to work in the unknown. For me, I felt like my lifetime of work experience was needed more than ever to help our organization navigate through the pandemic financially while at the same time providing much needed support for residents of our region to inspire them to be active for their physical and mental health. In a way, the pandemic forced our organization to take on huge risks just to survive financially and my comfort with this environment helped us to get through the pandemic and actually thrive.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I started as the first executive director of Sports Backers 30 years ago. We were a small organization with a budget of $137,000 my first year. The Board of Directors knew they wanted to help the community through sports, but had a laundry list of ideas that provided things to do but not strategic direction. Over the decades our mission and vision evolved and in some ways became even more defined. Today our budget is $7.5 million and we have made a huge impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Richmond area residents. We have created 15 events that inspire area residents to live an active lifestyle including Dominion Energy Riverrock, the nation’s largest outdoor sports and music festival, the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k with 25,000 participants and the Anthem Richmond Marathon with 20,000 people. We also have 45 weekly group fitness programs free to the public in low income neighborhoods, 70 kids run clubs at low income schools and a bike and pedestrian infrastructure advocacy program.

I’m most proud of building within our staff and 8,000 annual volunteers both the desire to provide exceptional customer experience by taking care of the details, combined with a desire to have our events and programs be meaningful for the health and vibrancy of our community. As a result, we have created an active living movement that is like a flywheel that keeps spinning faster and is no longer based on an individual pushing but rather a community moving ahead.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We are based out of Richmond, Virginia and we have a very eclectic vibe. We basically have no rules restricting street art which means we have murals proliferating around the city. The James River has a 7 mile stretch of whitewater that includes both an easy accessible stretch and a more difficult challenging stretch in downtown Richmond. We have a 600 acre James River Park with 20 miles challenging dirt trails right in downtown Richmond. Richmond is also an authentic city with historic buildings throughout the core of our city with wonderful row houses and tree lined streets. We also are a bit grungy and a bit rough on the edges. We are ranked third in the country in the number of people per capita that have tattoos. And, we have craft breweries intermixed throughout our neighborhoods. And, we have amazing local restaurants throughout the community.

If you come to Richmond, you have to check out the Tyler Potterfield bike and pedestrian bridge over the James River. With beautiful views of our city skyline, a close up view of the rapids on the James and osprey and bald eagles flying overhead, you can’t go wrong.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife Gillian definitely deserves a shoutout. More than anything she helps me stay focused on what matters most in my life. By keeping friends and family a major priority I have been able to lead a very balanced life. Her guidance and support has provided me with an identity that isn’t just defined by my athletic pursuits or my career. Ultimately, this provides me with the confidence to know that we can adjust to life’s changes as long as we keep our family and friends a priority.

Website: www.sportsbackers.org

Instagram: @sportsbackers

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sports-backers

Twitter: @sportsbackers

Facebook: @sportsbackers

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsBackers

Image Credits
Jesse Peters