We partnered with the Des Moines Art Center on the search for a Senior Director of Development. The Des Moines Art Center is a museum of modern and contemporary art that provides opportunities for transformational art experiences through its collections, exhibitions, and educational programming.

Hegna has a wealth of experience in planned giving, capital campaigns, and endowment creation. Under Hegna’s leadership, development initiatives at the Art Center allow the museum to continue to build a stellar collection of art, curate ground-breaking exhibitions, offer free admission, and design innovative educational programming.

The son of a woodworker and a fabric artist, the arts have played an important role in Hegna’s life. He has been a regular visitor to the Art Center since his first visit while studying at Simpson College. Since then, he’s participated as a member and also taken studio classes in printmaking and stained glass.

Hegna has served in progressively more senior roles for the last seventeen years at UnityPoint Health – Des Moines Foundation. He most recently served as Senior Director of Development and Gift Planning. Previously, he was Director of Development for the John Stoddard Cancer Center and Methodist West Hospital.

As a collaborative and engaging leader, Hegna joined the Art Center with a proven ability to cultivate and steward relationships with donors and supporters within the Greater Des Moines community, the region, and beyond. Notably, he provided strategic support for the $50 million Wishes Endowment Campaign for Blank Children’s Hospital, and leadership for capital campaigns to build both Methodist West Hospital and the new William C. Knapp Emergency Department at Iowa Methodist Medical Center.

He serves as a member of the Mid-Iowa Planned Giving Council, where he acts as Board Member Education Chair.

Hegna holds a BA in Art from Simpson College. He earned an MBA from the University of Iowa Tippie School of Management.