Darrell 'Flash' Gordon: Notre Dame linebacker, motivational speaker, youth center CEO
Darrell "Flash" Gordon is CEO and President of Wernle Youth & Family Treatment Center in Richmond. He also is an author and motivational speaker with a focus on leadership and transformational change.
The state's child welfare agency recently revoked Wernle's residential licenses, raising questions about Gordon's leadership of the organization.
A native of New Jersey, Gordon came to Indiana on a scholarship to play football for Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame. He was a member of the school's national championship team in 1988 as a fifth-year senior linebacker. While at Notre Dame he earned a Bachelor's degree in economics and business and a Master's degree in administration.
Gordon, 58, went on to earn a law degree from Northern Kentucky University's Chase College of Law. He also received specialty certificates in fundraising from Indiana University School of Philanthropy and nonprofit management from Harvard Business School Executive Education Program.
Gordon worked as a clerk at a Cincinnati law firm from 1995 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 he worked at the NCAA, first as a membership services representative and then as education coordinator.
In 2001, Gordon was named to lead the nonprofit Wernle Youth & Family Treatment Center in Richmond. He also worked as an adjunct sports law professor at Ball State University from 2001 to 2003 and in 2015 incorporated Gordon Enterprise, an Indiana limited liability corporation which oversees his publishing and speaking endeavors.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Who is Darrell 'Flash' Gordon?
