Photo by Jonathan Steinberg
The American Contract Bridge League has named Bronia Jenkins of Vero Beach FL as its newest Executive Director.
After former Executive Director Joe Jones announced his resignation at the Fall 2022 NABC, Region 9 Director Paul Cuneo of Houston TX stepped in as interim executive director. ACBL President Joann Glasson appointed a search committee, led by Region 4 Director Margot Hennings and fellow Board members David Lodge (Region 11), Mark Aquino (Region 2) and Dennis Carman (Region 5), as well as ACBL Educational Foundation President Robert Todd.
“I wanted to appoint a committee with completely different backgrounds and views to get a good perspective on who the right person was,” said Glasson. “We wanted something different, and they did a fabulous job finding Bronia. She is a breath of fresh air.”
Glasson went on to note the Board “enthusiastically and unanimously voted that Bronia is the right person to lead the ACBL in the future.”
Jenkins was born in France and lived in Montreal as a child before moving to California. A graduate of MIT, where she studied mechanical engineering, Jenkins is self-proclaimed lover of all games. She started playing bridge as a teenager in North Canton OH while there as an engineering intern at The Timken Company. Jenkins represented Canada as a Junior player, winning a silver medal, and has three NABC+ titles. She captained the USA2 Women’s team at the 2017 World Championships.
Jenkins previously worked in the finance industry as a financial services executive prior to taking a sabbatical to raise her two children. She became involved with their school and eventually taught there.
When Jenkins became aware of the ACBL executive director position, she decided to apply. “I thought it would be a great fit for me,” said Jenkins “It’s the perfect next chapter; it’s all the things I know I can do and care about. There is no other game I love like the game of bridge. Bridge has been a thread throughout my entire life. I want more people to benefit from playing this game; it creates bonds, friendships and wellness for people in the community.”
Committee Chair Hennings addressed the “wide variety of challenges” facing the League and said that Jenkins stood out among the top candidates, having demonstrated outstanding ability in her previous positions.
“This is a time of opportunity. Any time you have change, you have opportunity. The committee was looking for excellence in leadership ability, executive management experience and communication skills, and that’s what we saw in Bronia.
“We need to grow the organization by effectively communicating goals and strategies. We posted these specifics in the job description and based our decision on that.”
Hennings and the committee appreciated Jenkins’ energy and dynamism and were impressed with her business background which included day-to-day operations management, coaching and team building.
“I like to be in positive environments and for things to be fun,” said Jenkins. “At the end of the day, we are playing a game. The key for me is for bridge to be fun at whatever level it’s played at. I want more people playing bridge in whatever way they want to play bridge, and I will work to make that happen.”