Sarah Kicmal named new area United Way director

United Way of Southwest Minnesota has announced the appointment of Sarah Kicmal as the new President and CEO of the organization. Amie Ascheman, Chair of the board of directors, stated, “Sarah Kicmal was the unanimous choice of the Transition and Search Committee.”

“Her commitment to southwest Minnesota, knowledge of the United Way organization and her follow-through and commitment really stood out.”

She added, “The board is excited to have Kicmal in this new role and is excited to see where this new chapter leads.” The hiring of Kicmal occurred through an extensive search and thorough process where a number of qualified applicants applied.

The Transition and Search Committee was led by Ascheman and involved a mixture of community members, past board members and current board members.

Kicmal grew up in Walnut Grove and graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University with a degree in Speech Communication with a Public Relations emphasis along with a minor in Marketing.

Kicmal and her husband Max reside in Walnut Grove and have two sons, Mason, 10 and Colton, 6. In their spare time, they enjoy watching their boys in various sporting events, along with supporting their community and school in various volunteer capacities.

Kicmal has been with United Way of Southwest Minnesota for over three years serving as the Education and Volunteer Services Coordinator and most recently as the Community Engagement and Education Coordinator.

Prior to Kicmal’s time with United Way, she was a substitute teacher at Westbrook-Walnut Grove Elementary school.

Kicmal said, “I’m thrilled to serve in this role and continue the impact United Way has made in the area that has been my lifelong home.

“Since I began my journey with United Way, I’ve had the honor to meet and work alongside many wonderful people. “It’s through this work that I have realized even more how fortunate we are to live in an area with strong and collaborative community members, businesses, schools and organizations.”

She added, “I look forward to continuing our mission of uniting people and resources to improve lives and strengthen communities in southwest Minnesota.”

Kicmal will transition as President and CEO effective January 1, 2019 after the departure of Marcy Heemeyer who served in this role from February 2013 to November 2018. Marissa Kunde has served as the Interim President and CEO during the transition period. United Way of Southwest Minnesota is an autonomous, local organization working to create lasting change in people’s lives.

The communities they serve are Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Yellow Medicine, and portions of Cottonwood, Lac qui Parle, Nobles and Redwood. One of the big jobs of the United way each year is to raise funds to help out various organizations in the various counties.

It will be Kicmal’s job to head up that fund raising effort and make an attempt to meet the goals the board sets each year. Every county in the designated area benefits from this fund-raising effort.