18 Rising Stars 2011
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The Colorado Springs Business Journal
Janelle Irwin Assistant Manager, Security Service FCU Janelle Irwin comes by her love of community service honestly. Her father is a minister and her mom’s a nurse. As a kid, volunteer work was simply part of life. “I worked in soup kitchens, collected goods for the Salvation Army, helped clean the homes of elderly people — whatever needed to be done,” she said. Now, she combines her college training in financial services with her passion for community service at Security Service Federal Credit Union. “When I was promoted to assistant manager, my manager pushed me to find a way to incorporate community service into my new job,” she said. “I saw that as a huge door opening in my life.” Her response? She put together a team at the credit union to craft a financial literacy program for the
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Rebecca Keith
AP Biology Teacher, Mesa Ridge HS, Widefield District 3 It took a lot of energy and some very good mentors to help newly minted science teacher Rebecca Keith get through her first year as a high school teacher. But once she got a handle on classroom presentation, maintaining discipline and earning the respect of students, she blossomed in the high school environment. “I would never want to teach anything but high school,” says the 6-year veteran teacher. “At Mesa Ridge, the entire staff recognizes the student’s ability to be awesome.” In addition to teaching several Advanced Placement science courses, she coaches the women’s swim team and the local Special Olympics swim team. She’s written a science-based
book targeting middle schoolers, has been published in national science journals and helps her sister, Parks & Rec’s Sarah Bryarly, carve out new public hiking trails. Family has played a major role in Keith’s choice of a career, and in her optimistic outlook on life. Her parents are teachers, and nurtured her love of science from an early age. She’s a huge fan of her sister (“Sarah’s one of my heroes,” she said) and owes her love of Special Olympics sports programs to her Uncle Joey, who has Down syndrome and has competed in a range of sports. “I love coaching the Special Olympics athletes,” she says. “They are so genuine and so happy, so inspirational.”
Marian House Soup Kitchen. While it was originally intended to be a monthly class for Soup Kitchen clients, her team now holds three sessions a month. Next, they plan to offer a Spanish language version. “It’s really cool to see how an understanding of basic financial management can change someone’s life,” Irwin said. Things are hectic these days around the Irwin household. Husband Brady, who works for Carmichael Training Systems, travels quite a bit, leaving Janelle to fly solo as caretaker of baby daughter Katelyn Reese. All this as the Marian House project is gaining momentum. Luckily, her credit union shares her family-friendly outlook on life. “I could not have found a better place to work,” she says. “I feel truly blessed.”