Sister Linda Reflects on Four Decades of Service
by Theresa Doerfler
As she prepares to step down as CEO this summer, Sister Linda Yankoski reflects gratefully on more than forty years at Holy Family Institute. “I would do this all over again,” she says. “I’ve been blessed. It’s been a great life, and I would not have changed my choice for anything in the world.”
Born in 1952 in Detroit, Yankoski attended the University of Michigan on scholarship, engaged to be married to her boyfriend from home. While planning her wedding, she told her mother, “I often think about what it would be like to become a Sister.” Wisely, her mother insisted that she should explore the possibility before making a final decision. Yankoski had been taught at St. Christopher parish school in Detroit by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, whom she describes as “cool nuns”—so she went to their motherhouse in Bellevue to find out more. After spending a month with the Sisters, she broke off her engagement and entered the congregation in 1972.
Sister Mary Edward, the Provincial Superior at that time, thought all the young women should work for a year before continuing their education. After professing her first vows, Sister Linda was sent to Holy Family Institute for on-the-job training as a case aide in the social services department. Yankoski never left. “I fell in love with it,” she says.
In those years, Holy Family Institute provided children in need with a therapeutic living experience supported by a multi-disciplinary team. “I just learned what I could,” Yankoski says. And during subsequent years, she kept on learning. Yankoski eventually went on to earn a Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s in Administration from the University of Notre Dame, and a Doctorate in Education from Duquesne University. Right away though, she helped to begin new programs at Holy Family, including transitional group homes for teenagers, to help them learn how to live
independently.
In addition to her formal education, Yankoski credits her novitiate studies with Fr. Demetrius Dumm, OSB, who “opened the scriptures” to her, shaping her intellectually and spiritually. Yankoski learned from Dumm about the Old Testament King David. Despite sins and mistakes, “David picks himself up and gets on with life,” she says. When she made her final vows, she chose the mystery “Jesus, Son of David,” to define her life as a religious. Sr. Linda loves to recount the story about when David was told that he would never slay Goliath. To these biblical naysayers, David responded, “He’s so big, how can I miss him?” Yankoski says, “We all have a Goliath in our life—something that is big and insurmountable. The question is, how do we overcome it?”
Yankoski’s career has been all about overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles—and helping others to do the same. Certainly, there have been challenges over the years. In the 1980s, a tragic fire destroyed the main building, the stock market crashed, and the federal government under Ronald Reagan made budget cuts that hurt programs for children. “We had to recreate ourselves and move on,” says Yankoski, who became Holy Family Institute’s executive director in 1988 and has continued to respond to the changing needs of the times, always focused on how to support children and families according to the ideals of the Holy Family of Nazareth. During her almost forty years at the helm, Holy Family has transformed from an orphanage into one of the largest social service agencies in Western Pennsylvania, with a staff of more than four hundred and eleven different programs that serve 40,000 people in Western Pennsylvania each year.
In 2024, Yankoski received the Pittsburgh Business Times’ Women of Influence Career Achievement Award for exceptional leadership and performance over the course of her career—but she still remembers the challenges of leading a major nonprofit when she was a young Sister in her mid thirties: “The mantle of being a Sister was sometimes helpful,” she says. “But I had a lot to learn in terms of leadership. I learned from mistakes. I’ve learned to slow down, listen, and let others lead too.” For Yankoski, spirituality has always been a source of strength. She recalls fishing with her father as a child. “Fishing is a quiet activity. We had to be quiet and attentive, and wait for the bobber to pop up and go down.” Learning to be quiet and meditative has helped her as a leader.
When Michael Sexauer, who joined Holy Family Institute in 2015, assumes the role of CEO, he will become the first layperson to lead the organization. Sister Linda will remain at Holy Family Institute as President Emeritus/Director of Mission Integration. When she reflects on turning over the leadership role to a layperson, Yankoski says, “I think it’s a good thing. This is everyone’s church. It’s not just for priests and nuns. Our lay leaders recognize that it is not just a job, but a vocation.”
That hopeful outlook is part of Sr. Linda’s character and her spirituality. She points out that the biblical David is credited with authoring the Psalms. “I love the psalms,” she says. “There is always hope. You could sin and be redeemed.” Yankoski says that optimism defines the work of Holy Family Institute because over the years she has seen how, “when given the opportunity, kids can blossom.” Thinking back on her long career at HFI, Sister Linda says simply, “I’ve learned to never give up.”
