Wendy Wheeler
President of the Innovation Center for Youth and Community Development

Ms. Wheeler is a leading expert in the field of youth, community, and organizational development. For more than twenty years, Wendy Wheeler has worked to build dynamic and effective programs for young people and to create a fair and just world. As founder and president of the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, she seeks out, nurtures and brings to scale exceptional strategies to support young people, strengthen communities and promote social justice.

An expert in training and strategic planning, Ms. Wheeler is a widely sought after consultant to organizations, universities and philanthropic institutions. Prior to founding the Innovation Center in 1997, she held leadership posts at the YMCA, YWCA, Girl Scouts of the USA, and National 4-H Council. She serves on Advisory Boards for the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at the University of Maryland and the New England Network of Youth Services.

Ms. Wheeler has written several articles for both practitioners and academics, including an article on youth development and civic engagement for the 2003 Handbook of Applied Developmental Science. She has been a guest editor for the journal, Applied Developmental Science and is an International Fellow and visiting professor in Applied Developmental Science at Tufts University.