Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Plains hires CEO

BROOKINGS – The Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Plains recently announced that Jody Hernandez will be joining  its team as the chief executive officer  effective Aug. 29.
Hernandez has extensive experience in youth programs, organizational leadership, and the cultivation of strategic relationships. Club leaders say they look forward to the passion and leadership that she will bring to the organization.
Hernandez joins the club from San Antonio, where she served as chief operating officer for Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas for 12 years. Hernandez also served as director of membership services at Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana and as director of fund development at the Girl Scout Council of Greater St. Louis.

Hernandez also brings prior work experience in the field of higher education, having served as an adjunct professor, youthful offender counselor, and vice president for campus life and dean of students at Oakland City University. Her professional background also includes several years in the U.S. Army Reserves, for which she served as a combat medic attached to a M.A.S.H. unit in St. Louis, , as well as to a Blackhawk unit at Scott Air Force Base.
Hernandez is currently completing a dissertation for a doctorate of philosophy in psychology with an emphasis in organizational development and design and holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and master of public administration and policy analysis from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Hernandez and  her husband John, and their daughter Lily look forward to moving to South Dakota and joining the family of the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Plains.