Stephanie Andresen
Hartline, became the Society’s first female Supreme Chief Gleaner in 2002. Stephanie followed in their footsteps by involving herself in the arbor, the Society’s Supreme Council, raising her own family and being a Gleaner sales representative (2008-2014). “I began thinking about running for the Board of Directors prior to the 2013 convention,” she said, noting that required her to first let her insurance license go inactive. Her subsequent career in system development faced the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, and her infrastructure team “built and implemented a plan to allow, with a moment’s notice, BCBSNE to lock our doors and enable 1,500 employees to work remotely.” This included a “hands on” upgrade of 3,000 workstations across 14 states on a tight schedule. She and her husband, Steve, live in Omaha and are grandparents with two grown daughters. ANDRESEN GIVES THREE REASONS WHY SHE WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT DIRECTOR FOR THE SOCIETY:
OCCUPATION: PRODUCT OWNER, BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD NEBRASKA EXPERIENCE: •
As an infrastructure product manager/owner with major companies, she has experience with strategic goals, planning, budgeting, and measuring outcomes
•
A lifetime of experience and volunteering with Nebraska’s Gleoma Arbor, with which she served as president twice (1988-1990 and 2002-2019)
•
Sales and customer service as a licensed life insurance and annuity agent from 2008 to 2014
•
Nebraska Fraternalist of the Year in 2010 (her daughter Shannon was Youth Fraternalist of the Year the same year)
•
Current Board of Directors, Gleaner Life Insurance Society, one year
•
Supreme Arbor of Gleaner Life Insurance Society, 2011-2017 (Supreme Conductor, Supreme Vice Chief Gleaner, Supreme Chief Gleaner)
•
Fraternal Committee, Gleaner Life Insurance Society, 2005-2017
•
Nebraska Fraternal Congress Board of Directors, 2006-2017; Board President, 2011-2015
“Dedicated to giving back: Throughout my lifetime, I have tried to follow the first rule I learned as a Girl Scout — ‘Leave a place better than when you found it.’ This mentality has evolved into a deep desire to help others, serve my community, and raise up those around me. Over the last 40 years, I have volunteered through the Girl Scouts, my children’s schools, Omaha Food Bank, Special Olympics, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Hereditary Cancer Foundation, American Red Cross, and a lifetime of volunteering through Gleoma Arbor on behalf of Gleaner Life Insurance Society.” “Positive Attitude: I prefer the glass half-full perspective. Instead of saying ‘no,’ I like to think in terms of ‘yes, if …’ In my mind, this is the key to success. I have been working with my latest team for about three years. When I joined, they were broken. We spent more time looking back, telling me why we could not do the things that needed to be done because of things that happened in the past. We have stabilized our infrastructure, we have delivered on our roadmap, and we have planned and maintained our budget. I will not say in times of stress there is not some backsliding, but it never lasts long.” “Conceptual: My Emergenetics profile is primarily Social and Conceptual; nearly 80% on each of them. It explains why I am so successful as a product owner/project manager. I am an idea person, a think-outside-the-box problem solving visionary. I excel at defining the steps needed to achieve a vision, to plan a program, and to drive a project to completion. Add to that my social skills and positive attitude, and I think it’ll be very useful in building a positive, collaborative Board of Directors.”
ABOUT STEPHANIE ANDRESEN: Stephanie Andresen grew up in Nebraska’s Gleoma Arbor and saw her parents’ leadership. Her mother, Trudy
www.gleanerlife.org
Forum Magazine \ Summer 2021 \
9
