A Journey of Impact: Paul Haffner Announces Retirement as CEO of Lighthouse Youth & Family Services
FEBRUARY 24, 2025 — Paul Haffner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lighthouse Youth & Family Services, will retire on December 31, 2025. Haffner has served in his role since 2016.
Under his leadership, Lighthouse Youth & Family Services (Lighthouse) created and implemented programs aimed at ending youth homelessness, opened the Lighthouse Clinic as part of an effort to advance health equity, and increased capacity for youth in its shelters and residential treatment programs through renovation and construction. Plus, every Lighthouse location underwent improvements and upgrades, including trauma-informed design to create a sense of safety, community, respect, and dignity.
“Paul is a champion of building communities where every young person has the opportunity to thrive,” said Debbie White Richardson, Chair of the Lighthouse Board of Trustees. “He is a strong leader who remains focused on doing what’s best for those Lighthouse serves, no matter the challenge—including successfully leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, always putting safety first and ensuring Lighthouse’s doors stayed open.”
Also, under Haffner’s leadership, Lighthouse Youth & Family Services has become a beacon of diversity, equity, and inclusion, principles embedded in its practices and services. The effort includes continual learning, courageous conversations, closing gender-and race-based wage gaps, and evaluating policies and hiring practices.
“My time at Lighthouse has been the most rewarding of my career,” said Haffner. “It has been a privilege to lead the organization and an honor to work with a team that is passionate about our mission and delivers excellence every day.”
The search for Haffner’s successor begins immediately.
Haffner joined Lighthouse in 2016 after a 22-year career as a corporate lawyer and business manager with prominent Cincinnati law firms and the Great American Insurance Group. A member of Leadership Cincinnati Class 39, he previously served as Board Chair of the Cincinnati Nature Center and on the Boards of Directors of Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services, Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati, and the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, Ohio Chapter. He currently serves as board secretary for the Ohio Children’s Alliance.
About Lighthouse Youth & Family Services
Lighthouse Youth & Family Services provides an integrated system of care for young people in need and their families. Founded in 1969, Lighthouse offers a complete range of services for ages 0-24, including outpatient mental and behavioral health services, psychiatric care, two emergency shelters, transitional and permanent housing, and street outreach. The agency also provides community juvenile justice services, residential treatment, and foster care and adoption. Lighthouse has locations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Bainbridge, and Chillicothe.
A pioneer in the effort to end youth homelessness, Lighthouse maintains the first and only emergency shelter for youth ages 10-17 who don’t feel safe in their homes and the only shelter dedicated to serving young adults ages 18-24 experiencing homelessness and supporting them as they work to achieving stability and a safe home of their own. In addition, Lighthouse is the lead agency in the KEYS to a Future without Youth Homelessness initiative in Hamilton County and has developed a community-based plan called Gaining Resources, Opportunity & Wellness (GROW) to prevent youth from experiencing homelessness. For more information, go to lys.org.
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