Meet Our Team

Hal Smith

President & CEO

Hal Smith was born and raised in Yorktown, Virginia. He is a 1994 graduate of George Mason University with a B.S. in Public Administration. Hal has been in the Boys & Girls Club movement for a total of 16 years as both a board member and staff. Prior to his Boys & Girls Club career, Hal spent 16 years in the residential construction industry, specializing in large-scale renovations and custom home building. Now Hal is responsible for the operations, administration, and resource development of 12 Club sites, a Workforce Development Center, and a Youth Development Park.

Hal is a graduate of the Boys & Girls Club Leadership University School of Executive Leadership through the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He is a member of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Government Relations Advisory Committee, which provides leadership and direction for sharing the message of Boys & Girls Clubs at the federal level. As CEO of the largest Boys & Girls Club organization in Virginia, Hal is actively engaged with the Virginia Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, which advocates for youth across the entire Commonwealth. Locally, Hal is proud to serve as a Board Member for the Newport News Police Foundation.

Rob Coleman

Chief Operations Officer

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Robert “Rob” Coleman was born in Seoul, South Korea and has been a resident of Newport News for
over 45 years. He attended Newport News Public Schools and graduated from Warwick High School in
1989. Rob is also a graduate of the National Criminal Justice Command College at UVA, The Leadership
Institute at the College of William & Mary, and the Hampton Roads Regional Criminal Justice Academy.

For 25 years, Rob was a member of the Newport News Sheriff’s Office where he made his way through
the ranks and upon his retirement held the rank of Major and Operations Bureau Chief. He was
responsible for the safety and security of the Newport News City Jail which included over 100 sworn and
civilian staff members, and 500 detainees.

Gus Altschuler

Chief Administrative Officer

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Gus Altschuler is the Chief Administrative Officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula where he oversees Administrative duties, Finance, and Human Resources. He was born and raised in Newport News attending Menchville High School. He later graduated with a B.S. in Economics from Longwood University in 2014 and in 2020 graduated from the University of Tennessee with an MBA.

Susan Cookman

Senior Director of Development

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Susan Cookman is the Senior Director of Development for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula where she oversees all fundraising and marketing. She grew up in Northern Virginia and graduated from George Mason University in 2002 with a degree in Political Science. Prior to her career in non-profit fundraising, Susan worked on Capitol Hill for the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in the Office of Political Affairs for the White House. Before joining the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula, Susan served as the Director of Development and Marketing for the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Neck in Kilmarnock, VA.