Hawai‘i’s Got Pride 2024: Spotlight on Greg Waibel

The president and CEO of the YMCA of Honolulu says switching from biotech to the nonprofit sector was a “values match.”

Growing up on a farm in southern Minnesota, the youngest of six children, Greg Waibel had two things instilled in him. One was the value of education, and “all of the possibilities that come with learning and knowing,” Waibel says.

The second, he says, “was the importance of understanding the land, of conservation and preservation.” These themes have remained constants in his life.

Waibel first worked in agricultural biotech, which included a seven-year stint in Brazil (he is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish). But he became intrigued by a wholly different job opportunity at the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities, which includes Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“It was a values match,” he says, as he learned about the YMCA’s youth development programs and commitment to social responsibility. “I noticed that with the Y, everyone from the community can be involved.”

After 15 years there, he was chosen to lead the YMCA of Honolulu, where he started in January 2021.

“The YMCA has been around for 155 years in Honolulu,” he says. “It’s a constant evolution. We are operating out of 105 locations every single day.” This includes everything from serving the very young in the community, such as preschool age keiki, to kūpuna, who enjoy enhanced fitness programs.

Waibel is focusing on increasing the YMCA’s number of preschool spots in Hawai‘i. “The state needs 10,000 more seats,” he explains. He is also looking to create more mental health programs for children and teens, including those that focus on prevention and intervention.

“It’s personal for me,” he says. “I have two children, both of whom were diagnosed with anxiety as young children.” His children are thriving now as young adults; his daughter is a kindergarten teacher and his son recently graduated from college with a degree in audio engineering.

Waibel is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and is a happy newlywed. His spouse is from Thailand, and the couple enjoy hiking and playing pickleball.

The YMCA has local resource groups for LGBTQ+ employees and Waibel serves on a national level, supporting these groups.

“We help with best practices and addressing questions on how best to serve our members as well as our staff,” he says. “It’s about being really intentional, reviewing policies and statements and making sure they reflect the inclusive nature of what we want to do.”