On Jan. 1, 2026, Tyler Ward was named St. Vincent de Paul Louisville’s new Board Chair. Tyler joined SVDP as a Board Member in Jan. 2023, and is currently Vice President and Relationship Strategist at PNC Private Bank. Yolanda Pritchard will serve as Vice-Chair. We sat down with Tyler to hear his story.
 

How has your understanding of SVDP grown since joining the board?

“My initial impression of St. Vincent de Paul was always the thrift stores. I knew there were Vincentians and parishes that would do home visits or help somebody with a utility bill at the end of the month. I was less familiar with our campus, but that has really impressed me. The scope of St. Vincent de Paul’s work on the housing side, emergen­cy shelter side, the Open Hand Kitchen, that was something I was unaware of before I got involved at SVDP Louisville.”
 

What excites you most about becoming SVDP’s Board Chair?

“I’m excited to continue to work with the board members that I’ve served with for the last couple of years. They have been around the organization for a long time and they all work really hard. I’m excited to continue to partner with the staff. I think St. Vincent de Paul has the best staff in the city. There are also so many volunteers that make up St. Vincent de Paul. These are volunteers from all different walks of life and different reasons to support our organization.”
 

Talk about the board’s impact.

“What’s great about our board is we have so many people with so many different skill sets and backgrounds. They know a lot of people around the city. I think we can leverage those relationships to further the support and mission of our organization. My biggest goal as board chair—and I think the board’s always been working on this and the organization has done a great job of this—is to grow our brand awareness. If there are people who don’t know what we’re doing, we need to reach them and ask for their support.”
 

What do you envision for the future success of SVDP’s mission?

“The mission that we offer and the work that we do is as important as ever. So for me, I’m excited to find creative and new ways to deliver the mission and help those in need. The Board’s focus is on sustainability. There are always going to be changes in the policy or in the community—whether that impacts our clients from a food insecurity standpoint or housing perspective—but we have to find other ways to continue doing the mission.”
 

How does your faith influence you?

“Growing up, I saw my grandparents make it a priority to volunteer and contrib­ute to their community. They typically did that with organizations who aligned with their values and where the need was. St. Vincent de Paul was always important to them. I remember being a kid going to the thrift store at Owensboro. I know my grand­pa did a lot of other work with St. Vincent de Paul. That always stayed with me. My faith is also important to me and that was driven home by my parents. It was never a question of if you were going to be involved, but what you were going to do.”
 

Why is caring for those in need important?

“In recent months, it’s really hit home to me how important St. Vincent de Paul is to the community. With various agencies experiencing cuts and other challenges, it’s getting harder for us to do our work, but our work can’t stop. That’s happening while the need is growing, so it’s a double-edge sword. So, more than ever, we need the community’s support. We need folks to give their time, talents, and treasure. For some­body who’s living day to day, finding that next meal or place to sleep makes all the difference.”