Above / Tom Beerntsen is pictured with Dick Malone, President & CEO, YMCA of Metro Chicago, during the recent Naperville YMCA Mayor’s Community Breakfast at the Fry Family Y.
The Door County YMCA announced today that Tom Beerntsen has been named as its new President and CEO. He is the fourth individual to serve in this role and will start in his new position on January 6, 2014. The Door County YMCA has three locations including the Northern Door Program Center in Fish Creek and the Barker Child Care Center and Sturgeon Bay Program Center in Sturgeon Bay.
Before this move, Tom served as the first Executive Director of the Wood Family Foundation in Chicago, a foundation founded by retired Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood.
Previous to his work with the Wood Family Foundation, he was Executive Vice President for Association Development with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
In Naperville, Beerntsen was known for his service as the President/CEO of the Heritage YMCA Group, joining that YMCA in July of 2004. The Heritage YMCA Group served 30,000 youth, families and adults in YMCA membership and programs annually in Aurora, Naperville, Oswego and in the surrounding communities, prior to its merging on January 1, 2011, with the YMCA of Chicago.
During his stint in Naperville, Beerntsen wrote a monthly column for Positively Naperville where he shared his passions about the many values of youth and family experiences associated with the Y and its many programs.
Beerntsen owned and operated a family confectionery business in Manitowoc, Wis., from 1983 to 2003. His family had operated the business since 1932. Prior to his work in Manitowoc he served as a professional YMCA director in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota.
Beerntsen attended college in Downers Grove at George Williams College and graduated in 1971. George Williams is now part of Aurora University. He received a Bachelor Degree in Applied Behavioral Sciences and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Beerntsen and his wife, Penny, have two children and two young granddaughters.
During the Naperville YMCAs Mayor’s Community Prayer Breakfast on Dec. 6, Beerntsen had a chance to reconnect with many community members, including Positively Naperville’s publisher/editor, Stephanie Penick. With gratitude, Penick noted his 7-year commitment to PN when his executive office was located at the Kroehler Family Y, one of three YMCA locations in Naperville. Friday morning, he also mentioned his desire to continue serving the YMCA in some capacity.
“I am excited to be serving in a community that I have loved for many years, having had a second home here for sixteen years. It is apparent the importance of the role this YMCA plays in the lives of so many people throughout Door County,” said Beerntsen in Monday’s news release. “I am anxious to get out and meet as many people as possible and continue the good work that is already in place.”
Editor’s Note: Since Tom Beerntsen retired from writing his column in Positively Naperville, the column under the banner of the Y has been written by Judy Ellertson, Executive Director of the Fry Family YMCA and the Y Sports Complex; and R.J. Bartels, Executive Director at Kroehler Family YMCA.
