Kelli Soyer
President & CEO
Kelli Soyer serves as President/CEO for United Ways of Iowa. She has spent her career in the non-profit industry working in association management, advocacy and policy, and program management.
As a social worker, Kelli has spent her career in the non-profit industry. She has been active in grassroots and community organizing. Her advocacy efforts earned her recognition earning the 2016 Children’s Champion Award by the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children and the 2010 Friend of Children Award by the Iowa School Social Workers’ Association.
Kelli earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Social Work degrees from the University of Iowa. She volunteers in the community, serving as a Commissioner to the City of Des Moines Sister Cities Commission and on a committee with the National Association of Social Workers. She is completing her first, and only, term on the Des Moines School Board, scheduled to end November 2023.
Kelli lives in Beaverdale with her husband, Paul, daughter, Sayde, and fur kid, Luna.
Lily De La Cruz
Senior Program Manager
Lily De La Cruz services as the Senior Program Manager for the Iowa Reading Corps AmeriCorps Program under United Ways of Iowa.
Lily initially served as a Reading Corps tutor in Monroe, Iowa where she became passionate about the importance of literacy, especially for young children. She now helps support and guide tutors in their work serving Iowa kids.
She has a Master's in Linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Iowa, along with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Linguistics. In her time there, she tutored in the writing center and taught ESL classes.
She lives in Pella, Iowa with her husband, toddler, and beagle, where she enjoys taking everyone to the part and reading an excessive amount of picture books.