A native of Austin, Texas, Winell Herron became a Houstonian over twelve years ago and has since made her mark on the city as a dynamic leader with inextricable ties to many of the city’s most vital nonprofit organizations.
Houston’s size and diversity informs Winell’s personal and professional commitment to an array of large and small, mainstream, and diverse organizations. As a corporate executive, she leads H-E-B’s public affairs, diversity and environmental affairs initiatives and manages strategic decisions related to philanthropic giving throughout the H-E-B footprint (Texas and Mexico). While Winell feels privileged to be a part of the state’s largest privately held retailer, it’s H-E-B’s corporate philosophy of giving in hunger relief, education, health and wellness and the arts that perhaps most poignantly enhances the lives of its neighbors.
Whether it’s enabling a child’s future, helping arts organizations to enrich our community’s diverse cultures, or supporting health initiatives for children and families in our community – Winell has a strong commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of others.
Winell and her team at H-E-B are firmly entrenched in our community from a corporate standpoint and she is also personally involved with a diverse group of the city’s hardest working charitable organizations. She considers it a blessing and an honor to be able to give back twice. Her commitment is to move beyond financial support to the sense of activism that strengthens the heart of each cause and forms lasting community partnerships.
Winell serves on the March of Dimes State Advisory Board, and the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters. She is the past chair and still serves on the operations committee for the Texans Care for Children Board of Directors, and she serves on the boards of the Houston Museum of African American Culture; Texas Lyceum; The Houston Zoo, The Ensemble Theatre, and the Community Artists Collective. She is also a member of the Houston Chapter of Links, Inc. where she served as the gala co-chair for three years. In San Antonio she serves as a University of Incarnate Word Board Trustee where she was the 2009 Commencement speaker; and on the Tobin Performing Arts Center Board. She is currently a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, and is a Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Forum alumna. Winell has also served on the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Board of Directors; the Texas NAACP Corporate Advisory Council, and the Houston Area Urban League Board.
As she sees it, Winell’s greatest reward yet came through her work with the March of Dimes and their commitment to life saving research that reduces the incidence of premature births. Two of her beloved nieces were born prematurely. For Winell, these special births put purposeful cry to the millions of dollars raised each year, the many campaigns and events the March of Dimes holds to educate and raise public awareness, and the policy decisions its Board makes that add operational efficacy and hope.
Houston has recognized Winell’s professional and personal efforts by selecting her as a Houston Woman on the Move; by inducting her into the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame; by presenting her with both the 100 Black Men – Phenomenal Woman Award and the NAACP President’s Award – Gulf Coast; and by naming her among the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Houston and she was named one of Houston’s Women of Distinction in 2014.
Winell earned a bachelor degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988 and completed the Food Industry Management Program at the University of Southern California in 1992 before receiving an Executive MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in May 2000.
Along with making a difference in the community, Winell’s other personal passions include her family, many friends, traveling, technology, music and reading. Winell and her husband William (Doug), reside in Bellaire.
Winell Herron
Group Vice President
Public Affairs, Diversity and
Environmental Affairs
H-E-B
