From finding child care as a new parent to leading the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, Yvonne Lynch reflects on a nearly 20-year journey of family, career, growth, and impact.

It started with child care

Long before Yvonne Lynch worked for Bright Horizons, she was a Bright Horizons parent.

When her son Jack was just four months old, Yvonne enrolled him in a Bright Horizons child care center near her home. After an in-home care arrangement did not work out, the center helped piece together part-time infant openings to create a schedule that worked for her family.

At the time, she had no idea that decision would mark the beginning of a relationship with Bright Horizons that would span decades.

Two years after enrolling Jack, Yvonne’s career took an unexpected turn. The department where she worked at a commercial bank was eliminated, and she found herself looking for a new opportunity. When she went to the Bright Horizons center to explain that she would need to temporarily withdraw Jack while she searched for her next role, the center director made a suggestion that would change the course of her career: Why not come work for Bright Horizons?

Until then, Yvonne had known Bright Horizons primarily through its child care centers. But her experience in sales and account management aligned with the company’s client relations work. She applied for a Client Relations Director position that seemed almost tailor-made for her experience.

She did not get that first position. Three weeks later, however, Bright Horizons contacted her about another Client Relations Director opportunity supporting backup care. Yvonne took the role and became the first Client Relations Director hired into the team from outside the organization.

Nearly 20 years later, she is still here.

Growing alongside Bright Horizons

Yvonne spent nearly 12 years in client relations as the team and Bright Horizons’ services evolved. Later, she moved into work focused on expanding backup care within Bright Horizons centers and then into backup care operations.

But eventually, she began thinking about another change.

For years, she had considered pursuing an MBA, but it took a simple question from her manager to push her forward: What's stopping you?

The honest answer, she says, was fear.

Instead of discouraging her from pursuing something that might eventually lead her in a different direction, her manager encouraged her to go for it and assured her they would make it work.

Encouraged by her manager's support, Yvonne enrolled in the MBA program at Babson College, using Bright Horizons EdAssist® along the way. As part of the program, she focused on social impact and began thinking intentionally about what she wanted the next chapter of her career to look like.

"It was intentional, and it took time." - Yvonne Lynch

She was interested in bringing together her business experience and her growing interest in social impact, and believed a corporate foundation could be the right place to do it.

As it turned out, that opportunity was closer than she realized. When the person overseeing the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children retired, a leadership role opened up within the organization. “And lo and behold, the role opened up,” she recalled. “And so here I am.”

Extending the impact of Bright Horizons

Today, Yvonne leads the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children.

For her, the Foundation’s impact works in two directions.

On one side are the children and families it serves. Through programs like Bright Spaces®, the Foundation helps create safe, enriching environments for children and families who may not otherwise have access to Bright Horizons services.

On the other side are Bright Horizons employees. The Foundation gives employees opportunities to make a difference through fundraising, volunteering, supporting local organizations, and helping create Bright Spaces in their communities.

For Yvonne, that's what makes the work so meaningful. The Foundation doesn't just create impact in communities; it also brings employees together around a shared purpose.

"I'm super proud of that impact, both sides, internal and external." - Yvonne Lynch

And in some ways, leading the Foundation brings Yvonne’s own story full circle.

Bright Horizons was there for her family before it was ever her employer. Over the years, that support continued to evolve.

Support that changed as life changed

Child care was only the beginning.

Over two decades, as Yvonne and her family moved through different stages of life, they turned to multiple Bright Horizons services. They used backup care regularly. Her daughter even attended what Yvonne described as a “potty camp” at a dedicated backup center and was potty trained within a week.

Later, when Yvonne’s mother-in-law was released from the hospital following open-heart surgery and needed support at home, the family was able to arrange an in-home caregiver.

And when it was time for Jack to navigate the college admissions process, College Coach entered their lives. Now that Yvonne’s daughter is a high school junior, her family is using College Coach again.

For Yvonne, those experiences add up to something bigger than any individual benefit.

"No matter what life throws at us, there's something that can help us through it." - Yvonne Lynch

That sense of support mirrors the career she has built at Bright Horizons: one that has changed direction more than once, while continuing to move forward.

Looking forward

Yvonne never expected to spend 20 years at one company. 

Ask her why she has stayed, and she starts with the people. But she also points to opportunities.

Throughout her career, she has watched colleagues move from teaching in Bright Horizons centers into new roles across the organization. Her own journey has taken her from client relations to backup care and operations, through business school, and eventually into purpose-driven work at the Foundation.

At the same time, she has watched Bright Horizons grow alongside her own career and support her family through changing stages of life.

Reflecting on the company's 40-plus years of impact, she's hopeful about what comes next.

"I just hope it's around for another 40 years" - Yvonne Lynch

For a relationship that started with one family simply looking for the right child care, it has become quite a journey with Bright Horizons. One that Yvonne is proud to be part of.

"I think the company has a lot to be proud of, and everyone here has a lot to be proud of." - Yvonne Lynch