By Joe Morey News Editor
After 25 years of service at the Boys & Girls Club of Lac Courte Oreilles, Heather DiCosimo is leaving her position as the executive director to take on a new role as Director of Organizational Development of the Boys & Girls Club of America-Native Services Unit.
“In my new role, I will be working with all the Tribe’s Boys and Girls Clubs,” DiCosimo told the LCO Tribal Governing Board (TGB) upon announcing her resignation. “I’ll be overseeing 12 to 14 Native clubs and I want to help strengthen them all.”
Mindy McKevitt has been hired to be the new Executive Director at LCO and Art Mustache moves into her former role as the new Unit Director, which oversees day to day operations.
DiCosimo said Mustache has been at the Club for five years and will do a great job in his new role.
DiCosimo has been the ED for the past nine years, serving 13 years prior to that as Unit Director.
The LCO Club Board of Directors issued a statement saying they were immensely grateful for her leadership.
“Heather’s leadership began during a pivotal time when the future of the Club was uncertain due to financial challenges. Through her exceptional guidance, our Club navigated numerous obstacles, including significant expansions to our building and the scope of our services. Heather’s dedication has continually strengthened our Club’s culture, resilience and community impact,” the statement read.
DiCosimo told the TGB that when she started, the Club struggled to make payroll and pay our bills, but since the Club has become financially stable, in addition to receiving the tribal support, they now fund their own operations.
“We’ve added six new vans over the last few years,” she added.
“Under Heather’s visionary leadership, our Club has achieved national recognition and is celebrated as a premier Native Club by the National Boys and Girls Club of America organization,” the statement continued. “As Heather’s tenure comes to a close, we are proud to say the Club is in its most financially secure position in history and engagement levels are nearly back to pre-Covid numbers.”
DiCosimo said just before Covid, the Club membership hit its highest number yet at 622 and right now they are just over 500.
“We had a significant drop during Covid, but we are getting back to those numbers again,” DiCosimo said.
The statement said in Heather’s new role she will continue her inspiring work by helping Native youth services across the country and fostering the growth of Native Clubs, just as she has done for our community.
“We are profoundly thankful for the dedication, passion, and support Heather has woven into our organization over the years. We are incredibly proud and excited for her as she embarks on this new journey, serving Indian Country and representing Lac Courte Oreilles.”