What is your title and department?
I oversee Leadership Development as a Senior Director. My role makes up part of the Human Resources team.
What is your favorite Learning Grove core value and why?
My absolute favorite Learning Grove value is “Differences are Gifts” because I believe that no one way, or one person, has the ability to solve every issue that comes around. Nor should we! We all have flat spots that are filled out by others in the room, and I am pleased that Learning Grove leans into our work embracing different points of view to do our absolute best work.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to be in the outdoors as much as possible. Gardening, walking, hiking, camping, boating bring me such great joy and I try to spend as much time as I can playing in the dirt.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
Without a doubt my greatest joy at work is being able to support our teachers and those in direct service in a meaningful way. Rarely does this involve me directly, but when my work with leadership helps influence a wonderful outcome I am thrilled.
What’s the most unique part about working here?
Learning Grove’s top leadership cares about Learning Grove people and the quality of our services. I know others say this, but I have found that in the past this was lip service because actions didn’t support words. Here, I feel very different because there is congruence between what I hear and what is done.
How have you grown professionally while on our team?
I have been humbled by the expertise in our organization but would have to say building and coaching others on Leading the Learning Grove Way has been my greatest stretch the past two years. Supporting best practice around the employee experience has been very rewarding, but at the same time challenging because we are still building what this looks like.
What was your favorite part about being a child? Or favorite childhood memory.
Playing in the woods with my friends for hours at a time is such a fond memory for me, but I honestly think walking home from school in the rain, smelling all the flowers, checking out the worms was such a wonderful, solitary memory that I’d go with this.
How does the Learning Grove mission connect to your work?
My work is about empowering others, just like the mission is to empower children, youth and families. So, when I develop something useful, provide coaching that builds useful leadership tools, or carry out an activity that shapes practice, my focus is to empower our workforce to carry it forward. All of us are working toward the same outcome, we just carry it out in different ways.
