Heidi Deininger has 30 years of nonprofit management experience which includes 25 years with the YMCA and 5 years with the Girl Scouts. Her first nonprofit role in Wisconsin was in Rock County in 2001 with the YMCA of N Rock County where she worked for several years prior to taking on executive roles for the YMCA in Madison & Chicago, and COO positions for large non profits like the Girl Scouts of Southeast Wisconsin and the Goodman Community Center.
She was part of a leadership team made up of staff and community partners in Dane County that led the Activate America Initiative for the YMCA in Dane County, leading to a partnership with UW Youth Pediatrics and Madison School District to promote Health and Wellness in the Community to 450 youth participants. Also passionate about leadership development and DEI programing, she was a National Trainer for the YMCA of the USA for 25 years and received certificates for Organizational Leadership, a graduate of their Multicultural Executive Development Program and participated in DEI and Leadership Development Initiatives for the YMCA of Metro Chicago. Heidi also served as National Trainer in Finance for YMCA professionals. Working with GSWISE allowed her to partner on initiatives with Milwaukee Public Schools on Urban and Latina Initiatives that focused on STEM, Leadership, and Camping.
Other business roles in her career include Executive Team Management for Target, owing her own Health and Wellness Company and several years in the Hospitality and Restaurant’s in Honolulu, Hawaii. Accepting the role of Executive Director for YWCA Rock County makes Heidi feel as though her career has come full circle with the opportunity to be serving back in Rock County.
Her parents were immigrants to the United States. After they graduated from the University of Chicago, they moved to Hawaii to serve immigrant populations and raise a family. Heidi’s mother was from Germany and taught English as a second language at the University of Hawaii. Her father was from the Philippines and served the Filipino pineapple plantation workers as a doctor/surgeon in their local community. He went on to start his own physicians’ business while also working at the area hospital.
Heidi is proud to work for the YWCA in Rock County. She spent most of her afternoons as a young child at the YWCA in downtown Honolulu where she learned to swim, cook, sew, knit and crochet. She is grateful for the role the YWCA played in her life.