After a massive four-year effort to reorganize the national YWCA, Evanston/North Shore branch Director Christie Dailey said local programs is already ahead of the game.

Audrey Peeples, the Great Lakes Alliance representative to the YWCA’s National Coordinating Board, said, “Evanston probably won’t see sweeping changes from the reorganization because Dailey’s efforts have already brought the local branch in line with the goals of its national counterpart.”

Although the Evanston/North Shore branch, 1215 Church St., might have little to do with the way of reform, the national YWCA decided to reorganize itself in response to what Dailey called “a real disconnect between local and national branches.”

“We will continue our efforts to empower women and girls and eliminate racism,” Dailey said.

She served as a national chairwoman for reorganization from the summer of 2001 to 2002 — the last phase of the effort.

The new plan Dailey helped develop calls for a more locally based approach, so that individual branches can respond to their communities’ needs.

“When you look at a system and you see a lot of problems … you can’t just fix everything individually,” Dailey said. “We needed a systemic change for the program as a whole.”

In the early 1970s there were 600 to 700 branches nationwide, Dailey said. When she became the director in 1995, that number had decreased to around 301.

“The local branches just felt they weren’t being heard,” Dailey said.

The Evanston/North Shore branch will continue to support the hallmark programs of the YWCA — economic empowerment for young women as well as advocacy and racial justice — as well as more specialized programs like Destiny Girls, a leadership development program for girls ages 10 to 14.

The reorganization takes a bottom-up approach and places more emphasis on regional organizations than national ones.

In an effort to coordinate local YWCA efforts, branches have been divided into nine different regions across the country. The Evanston/North Shore branch is in the Great Lakes Alliance region. With 60 YWCA branches, it is the largest.

Aside from organizational changes, the YWCA also is making a physical move. The national headquarters is relocating from New York to Washington.

“We really wanted to be more involved in public policy,” Peeples said.

This move to Washington may be good timing, Peeples added, since it comes alongside the recent appointment of Patricia Ireland as chief executive. Ireland, longtime president of the National Organization for Women, is “very connected with Washington,” Peeples said.

The YWCA serves 2 million women in the United States and 25 million worldwide as part of the global YWCA movement.

Peeples said that after these changes are completed, the organization hopes to open new branches and institute an outreach program for younger women.

Although these national changes are some of the most sweeping in years, the local emphasis is still important, Peeples said. “We want to take advantage of the passion and leadership that women in the local organizations provide.”