October 10, 2007

McKenna ready to take YMCA to new levels
Former Yorba Linda-Placentia director now at the helm in Fullerton.
By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register

FULLERTON — It's hard to listen to Clare McKenna and not want to pull out your checkbook to make a large donation.

The newly hired executive director of the North Orange County Family YMCA could probably sell a mouse a mousetrap.

McKenna's sales acumen is well-polished, but she has an added quality in her marketing skills: a passion for her product.

In McKenna's case, it's more than 20 years of working with an organization whose mission is to change lives through spirit, mind and body. Her mantra has become, "If there's a will, there's a Y."

She worked as director for the Placentia-Yorba Linda Community Branch for years, growing the facility three-fold in the last three years.

Question:With all the success you had in Yorba Linda, why did you apply for the Fullerton position when Jim Lapak retired?

Answer: It would have been a professional regret if I hadn't applied for the job. I grew up in Fullerton; my family has been here all my life. I went to St. Juliana's, Troy and Cal State Fullerton. This is an opportunity beyond belief.

Q:You stepped in just as the Fullerton branch is undergoing its $3.7 million renovation, and you're sitting in a portable trailer. These aren't the best of times to take over an agency.

A: When I started working with the Y in high school, I recognized I could change lives in some small way. We can go into low-income apartments and teach kids how to swim, we can start up more noontime sports programs at local schools, we can resurrect the day camp and we can strengthen the community. My job is to partner, sell and grow.

Q:What are the rewards you've experienced?

A: When you see a father cry at an Indian Guides meeting, a mom who can't swim watch our instructor teach her kid to swim or watch itty-bitty kids have their first experience with sportsmanship at a T-ball game. That's what it's all about. We've sent kids from low-income families to mountain camps where there's horseback riding, swimming and archery. When asked the best thing about the adventure, some said: "I knew I would get three meals a day."

Clare McKenna

Age: 38

Residence: Fullerton

Family: Parents Mary Alice and John McKenna, three siblings.