SIUE Foundation Launches Mentoring Committee
The SIUE Foundation is always seeking new and bright community and professional leaders to serve on the Foundation Board, and the mentoring committee has been formed to help integrate these new members into Foundation Board work.
Thank you to Foundation Board member Charlie Reifsteck, principal at Reifsteck Reid, for providing an update to SIUE alumni:
A new day was born on October 26 as the inaugural meeting of the newly formed SIUE Foundation Mentoring Committee was held.
The day began with the introduction of the new members of the SIUE Foundation Board including:
- Sherry Baker, Raymond James Financial Services
- Andrew Glenn, BS Business ’07, Moneta Group
- Chad Opel, BS Kinesiology ’03, Visionary Wealth Advisors
- Kevin Nicol, BS Music ’74, Master in Music ’75, Nicol Financial Services
- Steven McRae, BS Business ’86, Great River Management (Retired)
- Edward C. Grady, BS Civil Engineering ’72, REEL Solar Inc. (Retired)
Each new member brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the board to help sustain and grow the Foundation’s mission of shepherding the scholarship and endowment funds for the University.
We started the afternoon by learning about each of the new board member's professional and personal experience and how that translates into value for SIUE. The agenda then transitioned to providing the new members with a wealth of knowledge about the Foundation’s work, other committees and the University.
It was an impactful afternoon spent with very valuable information being shared to help both new and experienced members understand the foundation, each other, and how to make the most of the experience and time served on the board.
New board members have been paired with an experienced board member to help them learn more about the work of the Foundation Board, successfully integrate onto the Board and connect with the University. The feedback from the mentoring committee kickoff has been outstanding.
“It can be a bit intimidating and overwhelming when you join a new board, especially one filled with highly respected, experienced leaders of our community. The Mentoring Committee, under the direction of Mr. Reifsteck, allowed me the opportunity to be immediately brought up to speed on the current strategies, vision and internal operations of the Foundation. This helped give me an immediate confidence to spring into action to voice my thoughts and volunteer for different tasks literally in my first board meeting. Being paired with a mentor, Lendell Phelps, truly helped me hit the ground running. I am able to learn and bounce ideas off of a seasoned board member, which is phenomenal.”
Chad Opel, New Foundation Board Member
We met for our first meeting at a Cougar basketball game. The best part of this mentor concept is that I get a chance to hang around with Chad. He really doesn't need much mentoring! It is clear to me that I'm going to get way more from him than I'll be able to give him. Go Cougars!
Lendell Phelps Jr., Current Foundation Board Member
The mentoring pairs have connected and several groups have met for meals and SIUE basketball games, so the wheels are in motion to accelerate new board member participation. This is just one of the many great examples of “Cougars on the rise!”
