HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The United Way of Reno County announced Thursday that Executive Director 
Tona Turner is leaving her role and will be moving on to Wichita as the Vice President of Resource Development for United Way of the Plains.
The Board of Directors for United Way of Reno County also announced that Lisa Gleason, current Director of Community Impact & Engagement, will serve as the Interim Director after Turner departs on Feb. 17. Turner started her career with United Way in March of 2006. Turner has overseen many exciting changes throughout her time at the helm from a 46 percent growth in the annual fundraising campaign; over a 1,900% growth in resources raised outside the campaign including grants; expansion of partnerships with over 30 local agencies; and the development of the community impact model that United Way practices today.
New programs launched in Reno County under Turner’s leadership include the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, where every child under age five can receive free age-appropriate books and the SW Bricktown Neighborhood Center in the Avenue A Elementary school where comprehensive neighborhood revitalization is underway to help more children succeed in school, financially stabilize more families and to improve the health of the neighborhood.
Turner’s also been one of Hutchinson’s community leaders for about two decades. Before her appointment as Executive Director of UWRC, she served 14 years in the banking, trust and investment industry – most recently as a Vice President at Central Bank and Trust. She has also dedicated her time personally to her community through the Hutchinson Rotary, Circles of Hope, Chamber of Commerce, HHS booster club, PrairieStar Health Center Board of Directors, church groups, and multiple local agency fundraising.