Ernest Lamour came from humble beginnings. He was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, to parents Jean Ernest Lamour and Antonine Simon. Ernest spent the first 8 years of his life living in Petionville, Haiti during the “Baby Doc” era, which were very violent times
As the youngest of six kids in a single-parent home, while his father worked two jobs to support his family, the young Lamour spent plenty of time at the local YMCA in his adopted home of Stamford, CT.
Ernest would later become CEO of the Stamford Family YMCA in 2010 and under his leadership the Stamford Y was transformed from a building that had closed its doors to a vital and crucial part of the fabric, which comprised the tapestry of the City of Stamford.
The road to becoming CEO of the Y is a very special circle of life story.
Ernest has fond memories of his very strict, single parent father saying “Ernest, you are allowed to go three places: school, church and the Y”.
Ernest athletic talents, cultivated at the Y, would allow him the opportunity to pursue his academic goals by attending Southern Connecticut State University where he played football and met his wife, Tamar.
During his time at Southern, Ernest decided he wanted to make a career in working with children because of his love of sports. Ernest would work as an intern during the summer of 2000 and 2001 at the Stamford Jewish Community Center summer camp as a senior counselor and then youth sports instructor.
Ernest would spend 8 years working at the Stamford JCC where he was promoted numerous times managing and overseeing the day-to-day operations of Summer Camp, After School Programs, Youth Sports & Adult Fitness, Recreation and leagues.
In 2006, Ernest would be named the Assistant Director of the Stamford JCC Maccabi Games. During this time, Ernest met then CEO of the Stamford Family YMCA, who would eventually recruit him to come back home and work for the organization where it all started.
Following an eight-year stint at the Stamford Family YMCA, In December of 2016, Ernest would eventually take his talents to the Ridgewood YMCA, where he currently serves as CEO and is proud of the work they do to serve community locally and abroad, especially in working with the many underprivileged children and families of his home country, Haiti.
The Y offered an environment, which guided Ernest as a young boy on to a path of education, athletics and leadership. As a man Ernest has now come full circle back to his safe haven, as a CEO in the Y movement for the past 10 years, a champion and beacon of hope for every young person.
AWARDS
Person 2 Person Inc. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leadership Award 2003
NAACP. Marry McLeod Bethune Education Award 2016
Stamford Peace Youth Foundation. Community Impact Award 2018
PRESENTATIONS
Stamford Family YMCA Fine Food for a Cause Gala. Honoree 2016
Connecticut Institute for Refugees & Immigrants Inc. Keynote Speaker 2017
MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS
Board of Directors - Fairfield County Basketball League 2010-2016
Member of YMCA of the USA National Membership Taskforce 2016-2017
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation - Executive leadership Group 2015-2016
United Way of Western CT - Executive Member Cradle to Career 2015-2016
Chair - Haiti YMCA Coalition 2015-present
Member - Ridgewood Rotary Club Member 2017-present
Co-Chair - YMCA African American Resource Network 2018-2020
Wells Mountain Initiative - Board of Directors 2018-present
Board of Directors Ridgewood - Chamber of Commerce 2019-present
New Jersey YMCA State Alliance – Board of Directors 2020-present
Ernest holds a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from Southern Connecticut State University. He speaks fluent Creole and is a former coach of Stamford Peace AAU Basketball program.
Ernest lives with his wife Tamar and daughter Emily in Hawthorne, NJ.