Tom Wissinger Promoted

Thomas-Wissinger-1colIn the two and a half years Tom Wissinger has been working at Louisville’s Jewish Community Center, many things have changed and he has been an instrumental part of the progress the agency has experienced in the Membership and Health and Wellness Departments.

Now he has been promoted and is serving the organization as JCC program and operations director.

“I’m very excited to be even more involved in the JCC operations,” he said. He’s pleased with the progress the Membership and Health and Wellness Departments have made under his leadership and is excited to expand that to JCC programming across the agency.

Wissinger wants to build a sense of family and teamwork. “We will have a much more collaborative approach on how to do things,” he said, “and more cross development between departments.” He looks forward to offering healthy lifestyle programs to younger members, and to CenterStage working more with youth and offering more options for families. The JCC has a talented staff. Now Wissinger is looking to pull them together “and create processes and procedures that allow them the freedom and creativity to use their talents to create a better experience for members.”

A native of western Pennsylvania and a graduate of Slippery Rock University, Wissinger came to the JCC through WTS, an event and facility management company.

A few years after graduating with a B.S. in sports management, he was offered the opportunity to work in Qatar, as an event coordinator for the Asian Games Organizing Committee. In 2010, the committee invited him to return to Qatar, and he spent a year as the Senior Manager for Venue Operations and Logistics for both the 2011 Asian Cup and the 2011 Arab Games. He found life in the Middle East exciting and enjoyed his experiences immensely.

When not working abroad, Wissinger has spent the bulk of his career in the greater Washington, D.C., area, working in the areas of wellness and fitness for municipal recreation facilities. He’s developed programs and events, managed a staff and a budget, and – a major catalyst for a big move – dealt with D.C. traffic over an extended period. He says escaping the “Beltway tangle” was a prime motive for seeking to live elsewhere.

Wissinger is a big basketball fan, and he loves to play. He also enjoys being outdoors, hiking, kayaking, and just soaking up nature, among other activities. Wissinger and his wife, Jamie, have two children, Jason, 9, and Haleigh, 18 months, and one more on the way.

Editor’s note: some of this information came from a story by Cynthia Canada.

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