Frank C. Kiehne
Frank Kiehne joined the YMCA as a teen in Burlington, Iowa. After serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, he attended George Williams College where he was the President of the Student YMCA. He worked with the Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis Associations before being named the Executive Director of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County (PA). There, he developed programs for migrant workers and disadvantaged youth. In 1970, Kiehne moved to the YMCA in Washington DC, where he helped to address the social unrest of the era. Kiehne served as a consultant to the newly formed Peace Corps in 1961 and moved on to become the Executive Director of the YMCA of the USA’s International Division. He was instrumental in implementing a decentralized approach to international work that supported indigenous leadership. In the 1980s, he served as Secretary for Refugees and Rehabilitation for the World Alliance of YMCAs, and in 1990, he became Congressman Donald M. Payne’s foreign affairs advisor. Kiehne received numerous recognitions including the NAFYR Stahl Award, and the Distinguished Alumni for George Williams College/ Aurora University in 1970 and again in 2006.
