David Kinder named director of Whitley County's United Way
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) The United Way of Whitley County announced this afternoon that David Kinder, above, has been selected as the new director of the organization. Kinder began his first day at the helm of the organization today.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
Important decisions often take time.
The board of directors for the United Way of Whitley County announced today that a candidate has been selected to fill the directorship role of that organization -- an important position that has been vacant since January.
David Kinder, a Fort Wayne resident, began his first official day of work today at the United Way office in the lower level of Parkview Whitley Hospital’s Lehmberg Building. Kinder brings a vast resume of experiences to the position, including manufacturing, journalism and not-for-profit perspectives which he believes will serve him well as director of the United Way of Whitley County.
“I’m very excited about the position,” Kinder said, sitting at the desk of his new office this afternoon, smiling and bantering with assistant Monica Trump. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with not-for-profits and I feel my background lends itself well to this position.”
Most recently, Kinder was employed by the City of Fort Wayne’s housing department. Prior to that, he was employed for seven years in the Logansport area as director of the Area 5 Agency, a division of the state’s housing authority.
Kinder oversaw 370 units of affordable housing and was involved in the development of several non-profit initiatives in that area including the Boys & Girls Club, a community health center, a mental health center, senior centers and various non-profit building projects.
Kinder also spent two years as the director of Aging Services in the Logansport area, managing a six-county area providing services to senior citizens.
This “gamut of possibilities,” as he calls it, will serve him well at the helm of Whitley County’s United Way.
A Fort Wayne resident for the past 10 months, Kinder and his wife Tammy recently moved to the area from Cass County.
“Cass County is a very rural community,” Kinder said, sharing his point of view that although the population of that community is a bit larger than Whitley County, there are many similarities. “I like my fit in a county of this size,” he said and added that he’s looking forward to being actively engaged in Whitley County.
Kinder is the father if four sons – 23-year-old Mac of Fort Wayne, 20-year-old Sam, who is a student at the University of Indianapolis, in addition to 10-year-old Gabe and 7-year-old Nick, both at home.
In his free time, Kinder enjoys refereeing basketball and umpiring for baseball.
“I decided I needed to give back for the areas in my life that I’ve been blessed,” Kinder said. “Working in non-profit is very appealing to me.”
Kinder fills the position previously held by Candice Yeakle who left in mid-January to become director of the Parkview Whitley Foundation.