Carrie Wall
In a manner of speaking, Carrie Wall’s life has come full circle. In fact, one might even say the YMCA is in her DNA since before his death, her father worked for several years on the early shift at the West Suburban and Downtown YMCA.
“In 1986, I was a young, married mother, and a stay-at-home mom for many years. As I looked for ways to engage with my pre-school children, I went to the YMCA to check out programs and membership. The Executive Director heard about me as I was a coach in the area. He talked to me about taking on a part-time job while my youngest child started kindergarten. I had planned to open a business after graduating with a Business Management degree, but I realized I had opportunities to grow my career and use my entreprenureual spirit in an organization that matched my values. Now, after more than 32 years of growing my career in the Y, it’s come full circle and I’m able to give back in such meaningful ways,” said Wall.
Her part-time stint evolved into a full-time career at the Milwaukee Y in financial development and she rose to become a branch executive before taking a senior executive position. Prior to accepting the position of President and CEO in Milwaukee, Wall was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of Dane County for seven years. She also worked for four years as the Vice President of Operations for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
A Milwaukee native, Wall graduated from Pius XI High School and attended Alverno College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.
“I majored in business management because I aspired to become an business owner. Working at the Y is better than being a restaurant as I can impact lives in such meaningful ways, so I have no regrets. I’ve been able to grow my career for the first 20 years in Milwaukee. There’s no better place to create partnerships than the YMCA; this is better than having my own business,” said Wall.
Wall said that at the top of her agenda is identifying ways to engage with families and all those challenges that families face—from housing, to health, education and hunger.
“As an organization, we must collaborate like never before in areas such as housing, education and healthcare, to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the community. For example, seniors are the Y’s fastest growing population. They are seeking to enjoy a longer and healthier life in a fun and caring environment. Consequently, we are seeking partnerships with healthcare and insurance providers to make sure we focus on preventive health care as well. Then, we have baby boomers who are retiring and wanting to give back. They are looking for ways to volunteer, so we want to make sure that we are able to provide them with those opportunities.
“There’s such a mix of people who visit the YMCA—from zero to end of life. We have a 98-year-old board member who has been a member of the Y most of his life. As we prepare to celebrate our 160thanniversary this year, we have a big responsibility to the community. There are not a lot of institutions and companies around that are this old. It’s a great opportunity for us. From prenatal to seniors, we’re helping support individuals and families. We are seeking to understand children’s needs before they enter school and helping to assure they are prepared. We are looking at our wraparound programs, before and after school initiatives, and seeking active and healthy adult role models to engage with our programs. It’s really a collaboration with schools, and the health and wellness pieces to meet the broad needs of families in our community,” said Wall.
When Wall took over the helm of leadership at the Milwaukee YMCA more than a year ago, it had recently emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“Since coming onboard last July, my focus has really been on getting the staff and board out of survival mode and focused on a vision of growth to assure we’re meeting the needs of kids, families and seniors in the Greater Milwaukee community. We now have a new strategic plan that emphasizes financial stability. Moving forward we are seeking to create partnerships and collaborative relationships in three areas: 1) youth development 2) healthy living and 3) social responsibility.
“This plan focuses on our neighbors and their needs. We’re also looking at diversity and inclusion. The YMCA needs to be part of the solution in terms of identifying ways to bring this segregated community together, while becoming a bridge to help make improvements in these areas,” said Wall.
Countywide, the YMCA has 750 employees, 150 of which are full-time and the rest are a mix of part-time and up to 30-hour workers.
“Right now we’re in full summer camp mode, so in addition to our employees, we have a number of volunteers during this season as well,” said Wall.
The mother of three adult daughters and ten grandchildren, in her spare time Wall enjoys spending time with her husband, the family or golfing.
“The team that’s in place here saved the YMCA for this community. My goal is to make sure it’s here for the next generation,” said Wall.
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