Our Staff -

Linwood Family YMCA

Membership Engagement Director

Di’Anna started with the Y as a Youth Development Lead at Leawood Elementary in October 2014. Before taking on the role as Membership Engagement Director in June 2018, she held various roles in child care and membership engagement.

Her favorite part about working for the Y is connecting families and individuals to our cause through membership, programs and volunteerism. Service has always been a part of Di’Anna’s life and serving people is her passion.

Di’Anna grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Before coming to the Y, she was a classroom assistant for the Kansas City Public School Head Start program. She also worked at Truman Behavioral Health and the Center for Behavioral Medicine as a mental health tech and certified med aide. Di’Anna is also certified through the state of Kansas to be a site director for before and after care.

When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her children, volunteering as a room parent and for school parent committees and coaching basketball for the Linwood Y Sports program. She also owns her own business where she is the lead social media and marketing strategist for several local black-owned businesses.

Healthy Living Director & Aquatics Director

Teela got her start at the YMCA in 2008 at the YMCA of Greater Omaha and Council Bluffs Association teaching fitness classes, working membership and being a fitness floor attendant. She joined the YMCA of Greater KC in 2015 and became the healthy living coordinator II at the Linwood Y in June 2018.

She went to Vatterott College for her personal training certification from NSCA. She is certified in TRX, body weight training, Zumba, boxing fusion, HIIT, HIIT with yoga, Schwin cycle, enhanced fitness, LiveSTRONG at the YMCA and is a diabetes prevention coach. She was also the first person to teach MixxedFit in Kansas City.

Her favorite thing about being part of the Y family is helping people on their journey to health and wellness while building lifelong habits, and coaching and developing instructors and trainers to be the best they can be. She also enjoys event planning.

Teela grew up in Omaha and has a background in cheer and dance. She cheered in middle school all the way to college, then semi-professionally with the Iowa Blackhawks Arena Football team.

When she is not at the Y, she is teaching jazz and hip hop and is a part of an Art in Motion, LLC Dance Company which focuses on West African, Afro Fusion, and Afro Jazz dancing. She also enjoys cooking, singing, writing music and poetry, yoga, meditation and spending time with her children.