My journey in organizational leadership began in my undergraduate program with dual degrees in business (human resources) and family/consumer studies. At that time, I knew I wanted to return to school at some point for a master’s degree. After a brief entry into a Master of Business Administration (MBA) two years after graduating with my bachelor degrees, I knew the MBA wasn’t the right fit for me.  So I focused on career, family, and lifelong learning (albeit at a more informal level).  After my kids entered high school and a breadth of incredible work experience, I decided it was the right time for me to return to formal education. I obtained my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification in summer 2019 and started in the Gonzaga University Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program in fall 2019.

Throughout my career, I instinctively approached challenges at work from a systems perspective, finding creative solutions to staffing shortages, looking beyond the surface of a single story, developing collaborative partnerships with those within and outside my department and/or organization. As I grew in my career and professional certifications, I wanted to supplement my experience and natural tendencies with deeper insights into researched theories and tools.  Having worked in a Jesuit institution, connecting my experiences with Jesuit ways of proceeding in reflection, discernment and the curas (cura personalis: care of whole person; cura apostolica: care of the work/organization) was appealing to me.  I found the Gonzaga University Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership allowed me to deeply connect my professional experiences, my personal life, and the Jesuit ways of proceeding with deep learning in organizational and change leadership.

Over my two years in this program, I found connections and themes that deepened my learning and development.  A sampling of the themes through the change leadership concentration within this program included:

• Approaching leadership and change management, as well as life, through a systems or wholeness approach
• Creating spaces for true dialogic engagement, whether in a project, team, or personal life
• Intentionally using reflection & discernment as a leader
• Understanding transformation (not change), various places and spaces where community members may be in their own life/career transformation, and how to meet them where they are for successful teams, organizations, project or change initiatives.