"I have a sense of anything's possible for people, so if I can help remove some of the barriers and challenges, why not?" McWhorter said.
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McWhorter spoke with ABC7 Reporter Leah Hope about her plans for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, her upbringing and her motivation in episode 10 of the ABC7 streaming series "Black & Powerful."
McWhorter comes from a business and accounting background. She received her master's degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
She spent years working in corporate America, and said even then, she wanted to be a resource to people.
"I recognize regardless of where you sit, there's an opportunity to be supportive and help people," McWhorter said.
Before leading the YMCA, McWhorter served as CEO of YWCA Metropolitan Chicago for eight years. She said her work with non-profits is driven, in part, by her upbringing. McWhorter said her family did not have much growing up, but she never recalled feeling disadvantaged because of her hardworking parents and opportunities to take advantage of community programs and resources similar to those offered at the Y.
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"If I can do the things that I decided I wanted to do, then I know others can too," she said.
McWhorter said in addition to her efforts to provide opportunities to families and children in need, she also uses her voice on corporate boards to help create, support and implement change.
"We may need to think about things a little differently. We may need to provide child care and other resources, and transportation and other things we take for granted if we truly want to change the community," she said.
Kindness is also part of McWhorter's motivation and mission. But she said it's not always about doing good in a big way.
"Doing good is creating a better human experience from wherever we are," McWhorter said. "Every interaction matters."