CSB Fall 2019 Informed Newsletter

Informed AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE ILLUMINATING

2 Creating Spaces to Raise Women’s Voices A Note From the President

LIVES CAMPAIGN

4 From the Athletic Field … to Her Field of Choice

8 Building Leaders for Life

6 A Game-Changing Goal

10 Campaign Numbers

FALL 2019

A Note From the President

CREATING SPACES TO ELEVATE WOMEN’S VOICES This spring, 406 women crossed the stage at commencement at the College of Saint Benedict and joined an incredible global network of alumnae. These women are already making their voices heard at large corporations, start-ups, volunteer organizations, graduate schools and in their communities.

At the College of Saint Benedict, intentionally and actively developing women leaders is a foundational tenet. While our students only spend a few short years here, we take our role in their lives seriously as we work every day to build the necessary spaces and create the necessary opportunities for women to rise up, to be heard, to lead, and to elevate other women along with them.

Mary Dana Hinton CSB President 2

The ability of these women to make their voices heard is not something we take for granted. You see, an essential component of confidence is feeling worthy of raising and deploying your voice. Therefore, having a space where one’s voice is valued is essential to developing women’s leadership and confidence. When we make space for women’s voices at the College of Saint Benedict, we create pathways for women to lead.

See some of our Bennie alumnae as they talk about what leadership means to them in these videos: csbilluminatinglives.com/ default/video-archive/

When women’s leadership is intentionally and actively developed in spaces that respect, nurture and support them, great things can happen. Our businesses, our communities and our society require the talented women leaders that we develop at Saint Ben’s. Some women will choose to lead in the boardroom or at the helm of a multinational organization.

Some women will choose to lead in their home, church or community. As Bennies raise their voices with confidence, courage and vulnerability, they add value in every arena they enter. Just as important, they lead by example and help cultivate spaces that empower others to do the same. And the world is better for it.

Mary Dana Hinton President, College of Saint Benedict

3

Facilities Spotlight

LOOK AT HER GO!

FROM THE ATHLETIC FIELD…TO HER FIELD OF CHOICE

4

We say it as we cheer on Bennie athletes excelling on the field, the court, the rink, the track, the pool or the course.

And chances are, we’ll have the opportunity to keep saying it and keep cheering on those women as they move from the athletic field to their professional field of choice.

Research continues to link playing sports in college with professional success – particularly for women.

According to Gallup research, “female former student-athletes outperform other college graduates on important career and life outcomes,” including the likelihood of post-graduation full-time employment.

There are myriad potential explanations for this connection between sports and professional success and satisfaction, but the research bears out one in particular: playing

sports cultivates skill sets and teaches unspoken rules that provide an advantage in professional environments. These rules include a willingness to learn as you go and to fail forward.

And there’s one more element that inextricably links sports and success: confidence. Girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem than those who don’t play sports, according to the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Confidence and self-esteem are immeasurably valuable on an athletic field and in a professional environment.

And that’s just the beginning. These elements translate to every arena of life.

A fundamental sense of confidence and self-esteem is worth more than any

game-winning score and any paycheck.

It will add light and strength to whatever path she takes, at work, at play, at home, in relationships and in her community.

Recently, Saint Ben’s and our community came together to make an investment in our athletic facilities. This was made possible through the generosity of people who truly understand the connection between building confidence and building a future.

By giving women the support, time and amenities to explore their passions and their limits through athletics, we elevate them for a lifetime. The research underscores what we already see: never underestimate the power of a confident woman.

From Corner Kicks to the Corner Office A recent survey from Ernst & Young emphasizes the critical role of sports in preparing women for leadership roles.

The survey evaluated 821 high-level executives and found that 90 percent of the women sampled had played sports. Among women at the highest levels of business, those in the C-suite, that figure is an astounding 94 percent (more than half of them played at the collegiate level).

Cases in point on Bennies in the news: Corie Barry ’97 was part of the rugby club at Saint Ben’s. Recently, she was named CEO of Best Buy, one of only seven Fortune 100 women CEOs. Terri Kallsen ’90 played volleyball at Saint Ben’s and is part of the Saint Ben’s Athletic Hall of Fame. She’s the former EVP of Investor Services at Charles Schwab and was named the 2019 Financial Woman of the Year

by Financial Women of San Francisco.

5

Young Alumna Spotlight

A GAME-CHANGING GOAL “You just got beat by a girl!”

The laughter from the bench stuck with Ali Ryan-Mosley ’18 as she and the soccer ball dribbled on, leaving the defender behind.

It was her fifth-grade co-ed team and it was the first time Ali remembers questioning what she calls “the socially constructed underpinnings of the human condition.”

“Why is getting beat by a girl such a bad thing?” “Is being a girl a bad thing?” “Am I not supposed to be better than the boys?” “Will the boys still like me if I am better than them?”

Those questions, and the imbalance they represent, have troubled Ali for years.

During her time at CSB/SJU, they led the political science major/Hispanic studies minor to explore them in her senior thesis, “The Economic Incentives to Women’s Ali Ryan-Mosley ’18

6

Empowerment.” She used primary research and a mixed-methods approach to explore how women’s political representation, women’s access to civil liberties and women’s health influenced changes in the Human Development Index and the gross domestic product per capita in Latin America.

Today, Ali’s continuing that exploration in Valparaiso, Chile. She’s launched The Crescendo Project, a non-profit that seeks to elevate women’s voices around the world through small-scale research ventures. Her first research project – #ellasjuegan – explores the question, “What is the role of soccer in the economic and social empowerment of women in Chile?”

Ali launched #ellasjuegan at a pivotal time in Chile, just as the Chilean Women’s National Soccer Team prepared to take part

in their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup. As the tournament progressed, Ali had the opportunity to watch her research material shift in real time. She’s hard at work transcribing and coding interviews and hopes to eventually publish the results of her work.

This isn’t the easy route. Launching and fundraising a nonprofit in a foreign country is a daunting task by any measure. It takes an admirable level of confidence, a quality that Ali honed as a Bennie. Ali is leveraging that confidence to explore complex issues, ask

tough questions and back up her inquiries with meticulous research.

As an accomplished former college-level athlete and lifelong soccer player, Ali’s used to scoring goals. Her goal for The Crescendo Project is her most ambitious yet – but she’s quick to note that this goal has nothing to do with fleeting glory and everything to do with creating lasting, meaningful impact. To that, we say: Game on.

As with any quality research project, finances are critical to the success of #ellasjuegan and The Crescendo Project. It’s officially designated as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and donations can be made online at donorbox.org/the-crescendo-project.

“ The lessons young women learn on the field extend far beyond game time. Trust, teamwork and accountability are just some of the traits we are helping instill through athletics. These lessons are vital to help ensure our young women have the greatest potential to be successful in their personal and professional lives. This investment is about people – not just athletics. That is the most fulfilling type of investment one could make.”

- Emily Coborn ’08 The Coborn Family Foundation’s generous donation to the Illuminating Lives campaign and the Saint Benedict Athletics Complex represents their interest in investing in future leaders and promoting wellness in communities.

7

Program Spotlight

BUILDING LEADERS FOR LIFE

In 2003, Bethany Heinzen ’04 returned from a leadership conference inspired to form a women’s center on campus. Together with a classmate and with the support of Mary Geller, vice president for student development, she made it happen. Today the center has evolved into the S. Nancy Hynes Institute for Women’s Leadership (IWL), named to highlight its focus and to honor S. Nancy Hynes, OSB, and her dedication to the women’s movement.

The IWL is unique in that it is student-led. The Student Director is a paid internship position working 20 hours per week, and the IWL has 11 additional student staff members. The staff generate programming, bring in speakers, run a mentorship program and operate a “Bennie Career Closet” that gives students access to professional clothing for specific educational or professional events. They meet regularly with the board of trustees, giving students an opportunity to lead with leaders.

8

Vice President of Student Development Mary Geller with members of the IWL at Senior Brunch.

“ I truly wouldn’t be the woman or leader I am today without the experiences and opportunities I had with the IWL.” - Lucy Dornbach ’19

The IWL addresses big, sweeping issues. In Mary’s words: “It encourages students to reflect on the opportunities and challenges of being a woman in society – not just in the U.S., but globally. It explores intersectionality, examines gender as a social construct and encourages students to challenge those constructs and limitations. And it celebrates women leaders and shapers of our world.”

and opportunities I had with the IWL.” Today Lucy is a field organizer for a presidential campaign, a demanding job that requires communicating effectively with a variety of leaders and community members, coordinating events and organizing outreach programs. That job description is remarkably familiar to her – she honed every single one of those skills at the IWL.

If that sounds like an ambitious and sweeping mission, that’s because it is. It’s a mission with a scope that mirrors the very challenges it takes on. And there is compelling evidence that the IWL is making an impact.

The IWL builds marketable job skills like that – experiences that are of incalculable and enduring value. “My experiences with the IWL have inspired me to step out of my comfort zone, to see myself as a leader and to go after my goals, no matter how big they may seem,” says Lucy. Libby Grygar ’19 served as the public relations coordinator for

Former student director Lucy Dornbach ’19 says: “I truly wouldn’t be the woman or leader I am today without the experiences

the IWL, and while finessing her PR chops has served her well in her post-graduation professional debut, it’s not her most important takeaway from the IWL. “The IWL taught me to know my own worth and what I bring to the table,” she says. “It helped me develop the courage to raise my voice, to understand my strengths and to recognize strengths in others.”

Lucy and Libby are quick to note that the impact goes far beyond the dozen women who run the IWL each year. “The IWL is vital to the holistic development of women today,” says Libby. “The Institute has evolved to match our changing student demographics and make sure we’re offering programming and resources to benefit anybody who might be on our campus.” And when those women step off campus, the IWL wants to make sure that they leave with the courage to lead and the confidence to challenge assumptions and raise their voices.

9

Progress Update

CAMPAIGN NUMBERS

JULY 2019 CAMPAIGN UPDATE CAMPAIGN PROGRESS

OUTRIGHT $66,306,482

DEFERRED $20,952,219 ACTUAL $87,258,701

ILLUMINATING LIVES CAMPAIGN PROGRESS (BY PRIORITY) ENDOWMENT GIVING ACTUAL $52,956,872

GOAL $63,000,000

ANNUAL GIVING ACTUAL $23,178,097

GOAL $25,000,000

FACILITIES GIVING ACTUAL $11,123,731

10

GOAL $12,000,000

Actual (as of 7/31/19) Goal

GOAL $100,000,000

Join the Conversation Bennie Conversations: How She Shines is an initiative designed to capture the individual impacts of our collective light. As Bennies, we know the impact of daring to shine. We’ve seen it in the sisters who lit the spark more than a century ago. And we’ve seen it in the generations of alumnae who’ve fanned the flames of lifelong learning.

Since it was launched in February, Bennie Conversations has held nearly 100 alumna-to-alumna interviews. Our hope is to celebrate and preserve these moments that define a Bennie. Now we have another opportunity to shine – by reaching the next milestone of 200 Bennie Conversations.

Learn more and volunteer by emailing Abby Hansen ’12, CSB engagement officer, at ahansen001@csbsju.edu.

11

ANNUAL GIVING 37 South College Avenue St. Joseph, MN 56374 Please direct questions to 800-648-3468, ext. 3 or mutsch@csbsju.edu

MAKING A PLAN EARLY

Angie Krtnick Complin ’04

As a young professional on the rise with a growing family, Angie Krtnick Complin ’04 might not be whom you envision when you think of planned giving. And until recently, she didn’t picture it either. “I always assumed planned giving was meant for people who were more established and already had a high net worth,” she says.

But planned giving is a great option for people who want to support Saint Ben’s while maintaining their liquid assets.

Angie designated Saint Ben’s as one of the beneficiaries of her investment accounts. This way, her commitment will grow along with her career.

Contact Gigi Fourré Schumacher ’74 at gschumach001@csbsju.edu or 320-363-5480 and start a conversation that can lead to your own plan.

Informed AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE ILLUMINATING

LIVES CAMPAIGN