YWCA to celebrate its Champions of Change 

The YWCA Quad Cities and the YES SHE CAN Series will reveal the first winners of their Champions of Change Awards at a luncheon Thursday, Jan. 20, at the Waterfront Convention Center. 

Here’s a look at the finalists:

Female 

• LuAnn Haydon, a lifelong Quad Cities resident, retired from John Deere after 42 years of service. She retired as manager of the John Deere Pavilion and Branded Properties, and manager of Global Visual Services. Her community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for Dress for Success, Family Resources, Living Proof Exhibit and Lead(h)er. She also supports these and other community agencies: Red Cross, Gilda’s Club of the QC and the YWCA through leadership development, fundraising, strategic planning, brand engagement and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) efforts. Her advocacy is helping women and children in need and supporting programs that focus on those impacted by cancer. Ms. Haydon and her husband Kirk have been married 50 years and have one son, Brent. 
  
• Kirby Vyncke-Hughes is a Quad Cities native, an alumni of United Township High School and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida. Ms. Vyncke-Hughes began her career in Sydney, Australia, working with international and diverse students to develop and mentor them into careers in the Australian labor market. She returned home to continue her career in post-secondary education, the nonprofit sector, and most recently, health care. She currently is the human resources manager at Rock Valley Physical Therapy. She embraces the opportunity to develop her skills and volunteer in the Quad Cities to continue to grow our region. Her most important role, along with her husband Jordan, is growing their twin daughters into future Quad Citizens.
• Judy Wurdinger has lived and worked in the Quad Cities for the past 39 years. She received her bachelor’s in social work from the University of Northern Iowa and a master’s of social work degree from the University of Iowa. Ms. Wurdinger spent the first half of her career in the private and public social work field including: the Department of Human Services; Family Resources, Inc.; Lutheran Social Services of Iowa; and the Child Abuse Council. She has served in various capacities, and served as director of both the Quad-Cities Rape/Sexual Assault Program and Residential Adolescent Parent Program through Family Resources. In the second half of her career, she has worked in education, primarily for the Davenport Community School District where she began as a school counselor. For the past five years, she has been Central High School’s social worker. Her community involvement includes serving on the Safer Foundation’s local board of directors and volunteering for many organizations in the region and the State of Iowa. Ms. Wurdinger is married and together with her husband, has five children and four grandchildren.  

Male

• Douglas Hultquist is a retired co-founder of QCR Holdings, where he served as president and CEO from 1993 to 2019. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and previously served as a tax partner with two major accounting firms including KPMG Peat Marwick, where he was named partner in 1987. In 1991, KPMG’s Quad Cities office merged with McGladrey & Pullen, where he was a tax partner until co-founding QCR Holdings in 1993. He received his undergraduate degree from Augustana College in accounting and economics in 1977 and in 2009 received an honorary doctorate degree from the Rock Island college. His community involvement includes: the PGA TOUR John Deere Classic (2001 tournament chairman); past chairman of the Augustana College Board of Trustees and current chair of the Risk and Audit Committee; past president of the Quad City Estate Planning Council; past finance chairman of Butterworth Memorial Trust; and previous Illinois Bankers Association board member. He also has served on the boards of United Fire Group; the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce; Rock Island County Children’s Advocacy Center; Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley; QCR Holdings; Quad City Bank & Trust; Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust; Rockford Bank & Trust; M2 Lease Fund; SFC Bank/Springfield Bank & Trust; and Necova. He currently serves on Russell Construction’s board, Rock Island/Milan Schools Foundation Fundraising Committee and belongs to the Rock Island Rotary. 
• Thomas Fisher-King is Quad City Bank & Trust’s first vice president, real estate operations and facilities management, overseeing the Mortgage Lending and Facilities Management departments. He has served in many roles at the bank including first vice president and compliance officer for parent company QCR Holdings, Inc. Mr. Fisher-King is active in non-profit organizations that are close to his heart including Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities, where he has served as board member, on the executive committee, chair of the Family Selection Committee, and board president. He has volunteered for the Junior Achievement Education Program since 1995. Most recently, he served on the Lead(h)er Board of Directors and Finance Committee, to further promote the growth of the mentorship program for women in the workforce. He previously participated as a United Way of the Quad Cities Campaign Cabinet Member, assisting in fundraising for organizations that change the odds for children, families, and individuals in our community.
• Rob Woodall is president of Global Rolled Products Europe & Asia for Arconic. He began his career in 1989 at the Alcoa Warrick Operations facility in Newburgh, Indiana, as a mechanical engineer. He transferred to an engineering role in Iowa in 1993 at then Alcoa Davenport Works. He moved into large manufacturing leadership roles across aluminum casting, rolling and finishing processes at Davenport Works. In 2008, Mr. Woodall moved to Australia to be plant manager of the Port Henry rolling facility and then became director of the Australian Rolled Products business. In 2012, he moved back to the United States and became manufacturing director for Arconic Davenport Works and Satellite locations. He transitioned to director of global plant operations in January 2018 before being promoted to his current position in 2020. He is responsible for locations in China, Russia, Hungary, Brazil and the United Kingdom. Mr. Woodall has held many volunteer roles since returning to the Quad Cities in 2012 including serving as a former board member and chair for Family Resources and the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce. He currently is a Genesis Philanthropy board member, YWCA Capital Campaign co-chair, and board member of the Eastern Iowa Community College’s urban campus project. Mr. Woodall received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1989 from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an MBA from University of Iowa in 2006.

These awards are all about honoring the men and women who are stepping up beside women in building a better and gender equal community,” said Deanna Woodall, the YWCA Quad Cities vice president of development and growth.  

Event sponsors include: Quad City Bank & Trust, American Bank & Trust, Waterfront Convention Center, Quad Cities Regional Business Journal, WQAD, Ascentra Credit Union, GreenState Credit Union, IMEG, Molyneaux, ShiveHattery, US Bank and Edwards Creative.