Diane Dickerson, CEO of The Bangor Region YMCA, has been leading this 153 year old community organization since moving to Maine from Southern California in 2012. Diane comes to the state with a lifetime of experience in entrepreneurship, owning and operating leading business management, marketing and advertising firms in Nevada and California.
Her focus has been on elevating businesses, strategic planning, fiscal responsibility, marketing, program enhancement, branding, public and media relations, staff development and much more. Her firm Merica, Burch and Dickerson, was one of the top marketing and advertising agencies in the west, and Dickerson was named to the Advertising Hall of Fame in the State of Nevada.
Upon graduation from the University of Utah, she started her career in Washington, DC, then was recruited by Citicorp to work in New York City and Denver, Colorado. The largest west coast-based advertising agency in the country recruited Diane to Los Angeles, California to serve in an executive leadership role.
Diane returned to Las Vegas to help her mother care for her grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. What was to be a short stint of helping her parents with a family illness turned into a 20-year career in Las Vegas, where she not only owned and operated one of the most successful businesses in the state, but also served as Chairman of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the University Medical Center Foundation, and Chairman of the Children’s Miracle Network, to name a few. In this time, Diane also received her Graduate Certification in College Counseling so that she could help children from all walks of life achieve their dreams of going to college and furthering their higher educational goals.
Diane’s additional business endeavors were Dickerson College Consulting and The Dickerson Group. Diane has dedicated her personal and professional life to helping others and giving back to the community. She believes that the Y mission is in her DNA, and truly knows she is the luckiest person in the world to be the CEO of this “magical place.” Diane says that being a part of the Y makes every individual a better, kinder, more accepting person, no matter if they are two or 102.