Kynan Waggoner, the CEO of USA Climbing, has expressed his intention to step down by the end of calendar year 2018, giving the USAC Board of Directors sufficient time to identify a successor and to facilitate a smooth transition.
“It has been an immense privilege to serve USA Climbing, and I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in the last 12 years,” said Kynan. “We have experienced robust membership growth and are fortunate to have recently become a member of the Olympic family of NGBs. We continue to annually sanction and manage over 300 local, regional, divisional and national competitions at over 200 different climbing gyms and venues across the country. It has been tremendously gratifying to work with the USA Climbing community, including our staff, Board of Directors, members, volunteers, partner climbing facilities, and sponsors. After 12 years with USA Climbing, it is now time for me to move on.” – Kynan Waggoner
Waggoner has seen from the inside every leadership change at USAC, starting in 2008 when their first official CEO, Anne-Worley Moelter, left the organization to start the Movement Climbing gym in Boulder, CO. The USAC Board then hired and had great hopes for Keith Ferguson, a former pro-rodeo executive and US Olympic Committee employee. Ferguson left in 2012, and after an extended period with no CEO, the Board brought in Mary-Claire Brennan a former marketing executive at the USOC. She was in the corner office for less than a year. Waggoner started his tenure as CEO in the summer of 2014
The USAC Board is currently convening a search committee to identify Waggoner’s successor. This effort will be led by Greg Padovani, Sr, Chair of the USAC Nominating and Governance Committee (NGC). If you would like to be considered as a member of the search committee, please contact Greg at greg@usaclimbing.org.
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