Q&A with Jeremy McClish: Why I’m Joining Crosswinds to Build What Helps People Heal
Crosswinds is welcoming Jeremy McClish as our new Vice President. Jeremy brings eight years of leadership at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne, where the team delivered over 100 homes during his time and scaled annual production from seven to more than twenty. We sat down with Jeremy to talk mission, leadership, and what’s next.
Q: What drew you to Crosswinds at this stage of your career?
Jeremy: Crosswinds’ mission aligns deeply with both my professional passions and my personal journey toward emotional and relational health. I see an incredible opportunity to help more individuals and families experience real growth and positive, lasting change. This work feels like a natural next chapter. Ultimately, I am a builder: a builder of businesses and systems and a builder of relationships and people. This next assignment joins my passion and skillsets well.
Q: How do you describe Crosswinds’ mission in your own words?
Jeremy: Crosswinds Counseling frees people by helping them break old patterns, heal from the past, and live with greater peace, purpose, and connection. What we do helps people step into and realize more fully the person God has created them to be.
I’d also add that, as a part of the Lasting Change family of organizations, I’m grateful that LC provides operations support and business expertise, helping us reduce expenses, improve sustainability, and ultimately serve more people. By working together, we create efficiencies that will amplify our impact.
Q: What will you focus on first in your role?
Jeremy: My first 90 days will be about listening well and moving fast on the basics: clarifying roles and priorities, simplifying processes where people feel friction, and aligning the team around a clear vision. You get what you measure, so we’ll make sure we’re tracking the few metrics that matter most to client impact and operational health.
I’ll also be focusing on current and future partnerships through opportunities like our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which allows organizations to provide access to counseling at little to no cost for employees and their family members.
Q: Looking back at your time with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne, which accomplishments make you proudest?
Jeremy: Two things. First, home production. In my eight years there, we built 100+ homes, and those homes helped ensure that about 275 kids had the stability of a safe place to call home. Habitat GFW grew new‑home production from an average of 7 a year to more than 20 homes each year. That growth resulted from a smart mix of revenue and financing strategies. Moving forward, this will allow the organization to keep scaling and serving families like never before, not just in Fort Wayne, but throughout the region.
Second, the team. That kind of growth can’t be orchestrated without a great team. It starts with structure—thinking, planning, and adjusting until you have the right seats. Then you fill those seats with incredible people who were a great match for our core values. Our leadership team was primarily promoted from within, with some key external hires for specific expertise.
If you’ll allow me to brag on the Habitat team for just a moment more… One of the reasons I felt comfortable taking this amazing role at Crosswinds is that the Habitat team is strong across all departments and positioned to thrive.
Their Development team has increased their fundraising for the last two years. Last year they saw the most partners and gifts in the history of the organization. Their ReStore reached an all-time record in sales, surpassing $2M for the first time in their history. The homes the Construction team are building today, with volunteers, are the highest quality I witnessed in my eight years with Habitat. Plus, they are introducing variety in the types of home. This year the team is building two-story models in the infill lots.
Overall, their Homeowner Services team is preparing 78 families for homeownership. This too is an all-time high. They’re not only walking alongside these homeowners, but they’re equipping them for the journey ahead. And finally, their financial position is very strong. They have a pulse on the right mix of projects and revenue for sustainability and growth.
Q: What’s a challenge you faced while scaling Habitat, and how did you overcome it?
Jeremy: A fascinating challenge we overcame–and one that truly allowed the organization to scale–was transforming the mortgage strategy. Traditionally, Habitat originated 0% interest rate mortgages to ensure affordability for the family buying the home, collecting payments over 15–30 years. The problem is, that model tied up capital for decades and didn’t account for the time value of money. A $300 payment today will not be worth that amount in 30 years. So, not only does it take too long to get our money back, but we do not have as much value to reinvest over time.
As a response, Habitat began bundling mortgages and selling them to banks. The product was desirable for banks because they could earn CRA credits through the purchase of these mortgages. The benefit to Habitat was to get larger sums of capital to reinvest in building more homes. It was certainly an improvement, but the hiccup here was the 0% mortgage model. Banks had no mechanism for profit because there was no interest on these loans, so they would purchase the mortgages at a discounted rate, often as low as 75% of the original mortgage.
The real unlock came when we found local community banks who would originate the mortgages for these families: 30 year plans fixed at 3%. This kept payments affordable for families and allowed Habitat to receive the full purchase price at close, solve the cash‑flow constraint, and immediately reinvest in the next build. It was the single biggest driver of our ability to scale.
Q: Put your leadership philosophy into one sentence.
Jeremy: Look out for the interests of others. Be of service to others. I love the Zig Ziglar line: “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Q: What or who has most shaped how you lead teams?
Jeremy: I am so fortunate. Throughout my whole life, growing up and professionally, God has provided amazing people who have coached and mentored me. I have learned so many different things from different people at different seasons of life both personally and professionally.
As I’ve grown in my leadership, the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) has been huge for me. It’s a system for leading and managing human effort. I was first exposed to it 10 years ago and have been working to master its tools ever since. The starting point is Traction by Gino Wickman.
Q: Lightning round: favorite teams, weekend hobbies, coffee order?
Jeremy: I’m a Purdue Boilermaker fan. I love time with my wife, Molly, and our three kids, waterskiing, and live music is pretty rad. And I drink black coffee… the darker the roast, the better.
Q: Anything else you want our community to know?
Jeremy: This role is all about relationship building. I love meeting people, investing in them, and collaborating. I’m energized by how connected and willing to collaborate nonprofits are in this city. If I can drive that collaboration and help us all do more together… forget about it. That gets me freaking pumped.
Learn More About Becoming an EAP Partner with Crosswinds Counseling ↗