The YMCA is a great place for children to start building connections, develop social skills, confidence, leadership, and fitness through youth and family programming.
This year, we want to profile local community leaders who attribute their success to solid beginnings with the YMCA. Our seventh community leader is Cindy Burreson, Senior Catering Sales Executive at the Renaissance Esmeralda and Interim Executive Director for the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert.
I am a “Y” girl…always. The YMCA has been instrumental in my life in many ways. In reflecting on my times at the YMCA for this feature, it really made me even more appreciative of what the “Y” brings to our youth. leaders
When I was a little girl, my Grandma put me in swim classes during the summer and I learned how to swim! I don’t think I had ever swam before that, but made it through three levels and diving in my first summer because I loved it so much. I also saved this scrapbook that we made at the YMCA when I was about ten. I remember being in the sunflower field taking this photo for the cover and thinking what a neat place the YMCA is.
We went through a divorce when I was little and moved to California where my mom was a single working mom. My sister and I went to the Diamond Bar YMCA for school pickup and afternoon care. I remember one counselor in particular named Octavio, who was like an older brother to my sister and I when we sort of needed a male figure. He was so kind and encouraging and helped us through a really hard time.
Now that I am a mom, I sincerely appreciate what the YMCA provided for my own Mom. She could go to work and rest easily knowing that we were safely being picked up from school each day, being fed nutritional snacks, doing our homework so she could spend quality time with us when she got home and we were making friends. I can’t imagine what a relief this must have been for my Mom, knowing that we were in such good care. I remember that I hated PE in school, but at the “Y” I was able to try a variety of sports and things I thought I wasn’t good at. It wasn’t about winning or losing, but about working as a team and trying your best. I actually grew to love sports at the YMCA and thought, “I can do anything!”.
The YMCA has truly impacted the woman I have become by helping to enforce the ideas of confidence and teamwork that I still carry with me today. I hope I can be as instrumental in making someone feel like they can do anything the way the YMCA did for me!
Cindy Burreson is the Senior Catering Sales Executive at the Renaissance Esmeralda as well as the Interim Executive Director for the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert. A resident of our Valley for over 15 years, Cindy and her husband, Derek, are raising their two boys, Dyson and Dylan ages 10 and 8. Cindy has served on several Boards in the Valley and is involved in many charitable events including the YMCA’s “Hoedown”. She has been a keynote speaker for Shelter From the Storm twice and she still loves unicorns and rainbows.
Check out the rest of our Y local community leaders here!
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The YMCA of the Desert changed my life. It was a pivotal time in my adolescence and I felt a bit lost and unenchanted. A friend invited me to be a camp counselor at Camp Oaks and my mother encouraged it. It made me look at the world differently because I was included at the YMCA for exactly who I was: awkward, funny, shy, and friendly and for who I could become: a leader, a servant, a trailblazer! Even the “cool” people at camp made friends with me. Like Dallas – he is SO COOL still to this day! He also trusted me and gave me some tips on how to be a really good camp counselor.
Katie Stice, IOM, is President/CEO of the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce – known as the Small Business Headquarters – and has been in the chamber industry locally for 14 years. She helped her previous chambers merge to create a regional chamber and become 5 star accredited with the US Chamber of Commerce. She was included in the Top 40 Under 40 for Palm Springs Life and serves on the Board of Regents for Institute for Organizational Management – a four-year educational program for chamber executives across the nation. She has been a keynote speaker, crucial communicator and influencer for her community throughout the crisis. The rest of her story is on LinkedIn – connect with her there!
When I was a child, I had a lot of energy and needed to be outside being active and interacting with other kids. So my mom signed me up for after school programs in the YMCA. I attended Lincoln Elementary and we would be transported over to the San Pablo location. It allowed me to do any classwork I had and then the park and playground were open for outside time later in the day. I would always ask my mom to pick me up late so that I could play football and basketball with the staff and other kids. That led to my mom signing me up for my first basketball league when I was seven years old. I played YMCA basketball all the way from seven years old until 14 years old. I made friendships in those leagues that I still have today and it taught me many values that I carried with me all the way through playing basketball until my senior year of high school. The Camp Oakes program was also another vital program that helped me learn about responsibility. I attended three times and each time had more fun. We played games, learned teamwork and was able to canoe and shoot bow and arrows. I attribute my love for camping to the Camp Oakes program, due to the fact you can disconnect from a lot and just be outdoors and having fun.
25 years after I started attending the YMCA, I am now the School Age Director for those same programs (funny fact Dallas Williams looks the same as those 25 years have passed). I relate a lot to the kids in all of our programs. I understand the importance of study habits and nutritional values that we’re taught. I also know how vital it is for kids to be outside getting 60 minutes of play per day, it has a positive effect on the brain, children are happier and they can interact with each other. The YMCA taught me throughout school how to become a leader, through playing sports and also attending Camp Oakes, there is different programs that allow you to be in leadership opportunities in groups. I have used those tools to help me in my job here at the YMCA, as I want to help out all the families we can in the Coachella Valley. The YMCA is also where I learned about sports and playing as a team. Before signing up for basketball, I would just play on the playgrounds at school and the first time I stepped on a court in the YMCA gym, it was surreal, I grew up to love it. Those values have led to me being a big basketball fan and also covering the NBA for fun.
My name is Justin Hickey and I graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in Kinesiology. I work as the School Age Director for the Family YMCA of the Desert and love my job. I wake up every day, ready to make a positive impact on as many families possible. I enjoy traveling, camping, trying out new restaurants, attending concerts and sporting events and writing. Outside of the YMCA I cover the NBA, I am a huge Oklahoma City Thunder and UCLA Bruins fan, it is very rare you will see me without something UCLA on (my grandpa is responsible for it)! I have a small pug named Sadie Bug, that always has a ton of energy and keeps me on my toes. I am also very big on family and attribute a lot of my career success to my mother, who has raised me on values. I was always taught to be respectful and to work for everything you have and not rely on others, that’s helped my leadership in life. Going through college working in the restaurant business, I learned many job skills that I use today. I worked in almost every position in a restaurant and that allowed me to learn people skills, telephone etiquette, staff dynamics, hard work, multitasking, among many others. I am indebted to the industry and during these times of the pandemic I have done my best to try and support the ma and pa places as best as possible, to help them keep our great valley going strong through adversity. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the great staff here at the YMCA, as we push through these times, you’ve all done a wonderful job adapting to the challenges and continue to make a positive impact on kids.
My name is Anthony Pomponio, My friends call me "Pomp." I grew up in Palm Desert, CA, I attended Lincoln Elementary, Palm Desert middle school, and Palm Desert High school go AZTECS!!! I played basketball, baseball, football and ran track in high school, later excelling at football and track. I won the 100 meter sprint my senior year making me the fastest man in the Valley for the year of 2005! I went on to play Collegiate football at Whittier College from 2005-2009, I was awarded all conference and MVP of my team my senior season. I graduated with a Degree in Kinesiology and Nutritional Science in 2009. I went on to continue my football career in Europe playing in the Switzerland American Football League for the Basel Gladiators. In Switzerland I was awarded Offensive MVP and led my team to the Swiss Bowl. After coming back from Europe I had a brief but very successful stint in Bodybuilding where I won 3 major competitions and was featured in quite a few major magazine publications. I then was introduced to the sport of Weightlifting and never looked back. I was invited to be a resident at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for 2 years, during my time in Colorado Springs I won several major competitions including becoming a National Champion in 2015 and representing Team USA on the world level multiple times. Upon arriving back to California my wife Charlotte Pomponio and I had our baby boy Rocco Pomponio. Now I reside in Palm Desert, CA with my wife and son. In the Desert my main goal is to give youth athletes more opportunities to better themselves on their playing fields, I want to share my knowledge that led me to have a very successful athletic career and hopefully allow them the same opportunities I had. If you want to know more about what I offer youth athlete please feel free to contact me 
The Y was the place I learned about sports, which has been the catalyst of my life since. The sports I played at the Y shaped the rest of my sports and educational experiences, taking the lessons I learned at Y Rookies and basketball and putting them in to future endeavors. I now try to use that “range” of tackling many projects, trying new things, meeting new people, etc. as the foundation for my entire career.