2016 IBR Women of the Year

8/20/2019 2016 IBR Women of the Year

1/68

presented by

2016

W omen of the Y ear


2/68

T H E H A W L E Y T R O X E L L W A Y

BRILLIANTAND

BOLD

BOISE / COEUR D’ALENE / IDAHO FALLS / POCATELLO / RENO

Call 208.344.6000 or visit HawleyTroxell.com

We applaud the Idaho Business Review’s Women of the Year nomineesfor their dedication, inspiration, and incredible vision for our lives and

communities. As Idaho’s premier, full-service law firm, we’re proud to offer

sophisticated legal service to game-changers throughout the state. Our

customized approach, The Hawley Troxell Way , uses a team of attorneys or

one-to-one counsel to meet your specific legal needs. And, best of all, our

nationally renowned legal services come with a local address.


3/68

Table of ContentsFor information about othereditorial supplemints to the IBR,

email [email protected]

P.O. Box 8866 | Boise, ID 83707

855 W. Broad Street, Suite 103

Boise, ID 83702

phone 208.336.3768fax 208.336.5534

[email protected]

idahobusinessreview.com

PUBLISHER

Bill Cummings

[email protected]

EDITOR

Anne Wallace Allen

[email protected]

SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR

Jeanne Huff [email protected]

WOMEN OF THE YEAR WRITERS

Jeanne Huff, Elizabeth Kasper, Sharon Fisher,

Deanna Darr, Carissa Wolf,

Stephanie Schaerr Hansen and

Shannon Paterson.

WOMEN OF THE YEAR PHOTOGRAPHER

Pete Grady (unless otherwise noted)

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Cindy Suffa

[email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Rocky Cook

[email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Corey Wong

[email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Michael Duntz

[email protected]

Maura Wery

[email protected]

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/

PUBLIC NOTICE/PERMITS

[email protected]

Laura Butler

[email protected]

For advertising, email

[email protected]

To subscribe or change your address,

[email protected]

www.idahobusinessreview.com

© 2016 Idaho Business Review Inc. All rights reserved

K AREN A PPELGREN, vice president, director, Business Resource Center, Zions Bank, Boise ...................4RENEE A VRAM , vice president, manager, Twill Falls Canyon Park Financial Center,

Zions Bank, Twin Falls ........................................................................................................................5

CHARLOTTE G. BORST, president, The College of Idaho, Caldwell ......................................................6NORA J. C ARPEN TER, president, CEO, United Way of Treasure Valley Inc., Boise ....................32, 33ERIN C AVE, manager of leadership and digital media, Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, Boise .....7

C ATHERIN E CHERTUDI, environmental programs manager,Boise City Public Works Department, Boise ......................................................................................8 W INNIE CHRISTENSEN, director, GKFolks Foundation,

Miss Africa Idaho Scholarship Program, Twin Falls ...........................................................................9

K AREN ECHEVERRIA , executive director, Idaho School Boards Association, Boise ..............................10COLLEEN A SUMENDI FILLMORE, state director, USDA Child Nutrition Programs; area chair, Natural Science at University of Phoenix, Boise...............................................................................11

JULIE M. FOGERSON, assistant vice president, Idaho Regional Communications,Wells Fargo Bank, Boise ....................................................................................................................12

A SHLEY FORD-SQUYRES, owner, AF Public Solutions LLC, Boise .......................................................13 J ANICE E. FULKERSON, executive director, Idaho Nonprot Center, Boise .........................................14BRANDIE G ARLI TZ, community liaison, Treasure Valley Hospice, Mountain Home ...........................15ERIN GUERRICABEITIA , executive director, City of Boise, Boise Urban Garden School, Boise ......... 16

JOHANNA (JOEY) C. L. H ALE, internal audit director, J.R. Simplot Company, Boise ..........................17C AROLYN HOLLY, senior anchor, KTVB-TV, Boise ..............................................................................18

BETH INECK , economic development director, City of Nampa, Nampa .............................................20S ARAH (X IAOYE) JIN, senior treasury analyst, Micron Technology Inc., Boise ....................................21K ATHERI NE JOHNSON, communications and marketing director,

Treasure Valley Family YMCA, Boise ...............................................................................................22

A UTUMN K ERSEY, executive director, board chair and co-director,Treasure Valley Children’s Theater LLC/Treasure Valley YOUTH Theater Inc., Meridian .........23

D ANA BOOTHE K IRKHAM, mayor, City of Ammon, Ammon ...............................................................24DIANA L ACHIO NDO, director of community partnerships, City of Boise, Boise ...................................25M ARCIA T. LIEBICH, nonprot volunteer and philanthropist, Hailey ..................................................26BROOKE LINVILLE, CEO, IonVR, Boise ..............................................................................................27B ARBARA Z ANZI G LOCK , director, low income taxpayer clinic and lecturer of tax law,

University of Idaho College of Law, Boise .......................................................................................28

CORINNE (CORI) M ANTLE-BROMLEY, dean, College of Education, University of Idaho, Moscow . 30DENEEN M AY, vice president, manager, Meridian Silverstone Financial Center,

Zions Bank, Meridian .......................................................................................................................31

MOLLY METTLER, senior vice president for Mission, Healthwise, Boise ..............................................34 A MY J. M OLL , dean, College of Engineering, Boise State University, Boise . .......................................35TERRI MUSE, assistant dean for external relations, University of Idaho College of Law, Boise .........36N ANCY K. N APIE R, distinguished professor, Boise State University, Boise ..........................................37M ARY (M.C.) NILAND, president, CEO, Witco Inc., Caldwell ..........................................................38REBECCA L. NOAH C ASPE R, mayor, City of Idaho Falls, Idaho Falls .................................................39P ATRICI A M. OLSSON, partner/shareholder, Moatt Thomas, Boise .................................................40

JULIA RUNDBERG, executive director, City Club of Boise, Boise .........................................................42SE A NNE S AFAII-W AITE , associate professor, University of Idaho, Boise ..............................................43C AROLE SKINNER, president, The Flicks, Boise ....................................................................................44STACIE STATES, president, Keller Williams Realty, Boise ......................................................................45SHANNON STOEGER, senior vice president and branch administrator,

Idaho Independent Bank, Boise ........................................................................................................46

A NN S WANSON , small business development center director, region v,Idaho State University College of Business, Pocatello ......................................................................47

OLGA TIJERINA -MENCHACA , assistant vice president, branch manager IIIdaho Center Branch, Nampa; Overland Branch, Boise; Nampa ....................................................48GLORIA TOTORICAGÜENA , president, Idaho Policy and Consulting LLC,

Transnational Initiatives LLC, Boise .................................................................................................50

JILL SHELTON W AGERS , general dentist, owner, sole practitioner, Jill Shelton Wagers Family Dentistry P.C., Boise ...............................................................................51

SHAWNA W ALZ , founder, executive director, Idaho Diaper Bank Inc., Boise ........................................52 A MANDA W ATSON , senior account executive, Red Sky, Boise ................................................................53C ARRIE W ESTERGARD, executive director, Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau, Boise ...................54

JENNIFER W HEELER, president, WRG Corporate Services; executive director,Idaho Oral Health Alliance, Boise ...................................................................................................56

CHERYL A. W RIGHT, vice president of Finance and Administration,College of Western Idaho, Nampa ...................................................................................................57

M ARY YORK , partner, Holland & Hart LLP, Boise ..............................................................................58 A MERICA YORITA -C ARRIO N, coordinator, Alumni Association,

Idaho Youth Ranch, Boise ................................................................................................................59

Idaho Business Review • 1


4/68

From theEditor

Congratulations – you have in

your hands 50 success stories of 50Idaho women leaders.

You will be inspired, awed, sur-

prised, and tickled. Their stories

will amaze you. You will read about

a woman who climbed the highest

peak in Idaho, struggling through

a foot-and-a-half of snow and ice,

and that’s what she does in her spare

time. In her 9-to-5 job, she is a PR

whiz kid, works in public policy and

is a heathcare expert.

Another is one of 76 Idaho

women dentists – who walk amongthe nearly 1,000 male dentists. A

CFO of a community college –

who, by the way, has also walked

on re, twice. Two are Idaho may-

ors. Another helps train business

people in Vietnam. Another raises

service dog puppies – when she

is not working as the dean of the

College of Engineering at Boise

State University.

I think you can see where I

am going with this – these are all

great women and they all have greatstories.

Read them – and I know that

you will be as proud as I am, to

know that these women are among

us, doing great things.

Also, please note that ve have

been named Women of the Year

before, which puts them in the Circle

of Excellence: Nora J. Carpenter,

Colleen Asumendi Fillmore, 2011;

Ashley Ford-Squyres, 2009; Janice

E. Fulkerson, 2015; and Shawna

Walz, 2015.

Hawley Troxell is Idaho’s largest full-ser-

vice business law rm, and consists of 64 attor-

neys and over 100 full-time employees. Our

19 diverse practice groups include Alternative

Dispute Resolution; Banking; Business;Construction; Creditor Rights and Bankruptcy;

Employment and Labor; Health Care;

Insurance; Intellectual Property and Internet;

Litigation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Patent

and Emerging Technology; Public Finance and

Local Government; Real Estate; Renewable

Energy; Securities; Tax, Estate Planning, and

Employee Benets; Wine, Brew, Spirits.

Our customized approach, The

Hawley Troxell Way uses a team of attor-

neys or one-to-one counsel to meet our

clients’ specic legal needs. With headquar-

ters in Boise, we have additional oces inCoeur d’Alene, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and

Reno. As a member of Lex Mundi, the

world’s leading association of independent

law rms, we partner with rms around the

globe to provide the most comprehensive

service possible to our clients. And, best of

all, our nationally renowned legal services

come with a local address.

Wells Fargo employs 2,000 team members through-

out Idaho, serving customers from 85 stores and 91

ATMs. A diversied, community-based nancial ser-

vices company, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance,

investments, mortgage and consumer and commercialnance. Wells Fargo serves one in three households and

ranked No. 30 on Fortune’s 2015 largest corporations.

2 • Women of the Year


5/68


Shannon StoegerWe celebrate our friend and collegue, Shannon,

and all of the 2016 Women of the Year honorees

for their dedication, hard work, and invaluable

contributions to our community.

Senior Vice President & Branch Administrator

TheIdahoBank.com | 800.897.4863

Congratulations from The Idaho Bank ®!

UnitedHeritage.com | 800-657-6351 | Meridian, ID


6/68

Vice President and Director • Business Resource Center • Zions Bank • BoiseBy Elizabeth Kasper

Special to Idaho Business Review

To put it simply, Karen Appelgren just loves to help.

If she had to describe her job in one word, she would proba-

bly have to say “banker,” but what she does goes far beyond writ-

ing loan documents and cashing checks. As director of the downtown

Zions Bank Business Resource Center, Appelgren teaches clients just

about everything they need to know to run a business, soup to nuts.

“It’s a collaborative eort to grow a business,” Appelgren says,

enthusiasm in her voice. “It takes a village to raise a child, and it

takes the eort of a community to build strong economic commu-

nities. I feel like part banker, part teacher. I think I have the best job

in the world.”

Since opening its doors in January 2014, the center has consult-ed with 190 entrepreneurs, trained more than 1,000 business people

though workshops, and provided more than 2,500 mentoring hours.

“We kind of ll in the gaps for people,” Appelgren says. “How

do you know if you can make money? Will there be demand? How

do you nd the resources you need?”

Appelgren was certainly qualied for the job – she had just

come from developing the Women’s Business Center, a division of

the Mountain States Group, where she trained business hopefuls in

business planning, nance, marketing and operations.

Her background as a teacher helped as well. She worked as a

substitute teacher for the Boise School District for 10 years, and then

got to spend one year – “my magical year,” as she calls it – as an

Academic Interventionist at the Boise Language Academy. There,

Appelgren taught three levels of math to a population hosting 20

dierent language groups. Most of the students had had no priorexperience with the English language.

Appelgren cites one moment in particular that stands out. The

school had just opened and she was outside during lunch to monitor

the students, who were from dierent countries and in some cases,

dierent factions of the same country. But they were all playing soc-

cer – sports was “the universal language,” Appelgren says.

“It made me think, what would the world be like if we just saw

each other as people and accepted that we’re all human beings?” she

says. “It was beautiful.”

After a year, the school made budget cuts and Appelgren went

back to the business world. One thing that didn’t change, however,

was her devotion to giving back to the community. She is a founding

member of the United Way Treasure Valley’s Women’s LeadershipCouncil, and as much as she can, she volunteers with Dress for

Success, a company that helps outt economically disadvantaged

women for job interviews and other business events.

Appelgren, an Arizona native, loves Idaho and Boise in particular.

She enjoys walking and riding her bike on the Greenbelt, and she attends

the symphony and the Shakespeare Festival as often as she can. The moth-

er of two grown sons, she also loves to play strategy games with her family.

One day, Appelgren would like to pursue public oce. She is

particularly passionate about strengthening and enhancing Idaho’s

public education system.

But for now, she is enjoying the here and now.

“I love what I’ve done before, and I love what I do (at Zions

Bank),” she says. “Every day, I look forward to coming to work.”

“It’s a collaborativeeffort to grow abusiness. It takes avillage to raise a child,

and it takes the effortof a community tobuild strong economiccommunities.”

Karen Appelgren



7/68

Vice President, Manager • Twin Falls Canyon Park Financial CenterZions Bank • Twin Falls

By Jeanne Huf

Idaho Business Review

As a young girl, Renee Avram was competitive. “I was involved

in sports from 2nd grade on up,” she says. “I played baseball

with the boys until I couldn’t anymore. I made the All-Star

Team.” Later, she played volleyball and was a Junior Olympic hope-

ful until a sprained wrist put the kibosh on those hopes. She was also

competitive in academics and was the spelling bee champion in 7th

and 8th grades.

She says it’s this competitive spirit that has paved her path to

success. “I was up in the a.m. at 5:30, doing weights and working

out.” It instilled in her a hard work ethic and more. “Being part of ateam and working together, that mentorship, that leadership, it made

me early on recognize people’s abilities and skills,” Avram says.

Also, being a leader and taking charge was ingrained. In high

school, wearing a tank top, ip-ops and shorts, she approached

the president of the school’s credit union and said the credit union

was not providing the exposure it could to increase business. “When

you believe in something, you go both feet in and don’t look back. I

was hired on the spot,” Avram says. In six months, she had helped

increase the number of accounts by 50 percent.

Fast forward to today. Avram says she has “worked in just about

every role that exists in banking” since her rst job as a credit union

receptionist and since 2006 serves as vice president and manager of

Zions’ Twin Falls Canyon Park Financial Center. Within seven years

she led her team to increase branch deposits and loans to over $110

million, managed two successful nancial centers, and won presti-

gious awards, including the Rainmaker Award – she increased new

deposits by $29 million. She is “passionate” about economic growth

and development and points to success stories including Chobani

and Clif Bar.

In addition, Avram takes the mantle of mentoring seriously,

another holdover from her background in sports.

“I learned at an early age to identify people’s strengths and

weaknesses and their ability to adapt to them and enable them to

better themselves in their careers and in their lives. It is the mostrewarding thing,” she says. “If more employees feel better they’ll

work harder. I think that’s a win-win.”

Avram also believes in community outreach and has helped

single mothers enter the workforce, was 2015 team captain for Zions

Bank’s Paint-A-Thon, and regularly volunteers for the bank’s Teach

Children to Save program, among others.

A survivor of fourth stage melanoma, Avram and her husband

Brian have two children, Taylor, 14, and Carson, 10. And she cred-

its her mother with teaching her the value of integrity. “My mom

always instilled in me that you cannot have integrity 99 percent of

the time. Either you have it or you don’t.”

“It’s so good when acustomer calls you andsays, ‘I just want youto know that 15 years

ago when you gave methat loan, that changedmy life. You workedwith me and made itpossible to get backon my feet.’”

Renee Avram



8/68

President • College of Idaho • CaldwellBy Elizabeth Kasper


It’s appropriate that Charlotte G. Borst, the College of Idaho’s 13th

president, is a historian, as she is making history herself.

Borst became the college’s rst female president in June 2015,

selected from a eld of more than 130 candidates. Her extensive

administrative experience and strong liberal arts background made

her uniquely qualied for the job.

Growing up in Vermont, Borst was fascinated with biographies

of famous women scientists, her role models – she’d planned on

becoming a physician.

“I spent my young life at the library,” she says with a laugh.

“I’d ride my bike there, and my mom would call down and ask the

workers to please send me home.”In her senior year at Boston University, however, she took a class

from a historian of science and found she loved the mix of history

and medicine. She continued her education, earning two master’s

degrees and a doctorate in the history of science, and taught history

at several schools across the country. Borst took her rst administra-

tive position at the University of Birmingham as the executive direc-

tor of historical colleges, and held similar positions at other schools,

most recently as vice president for academic aairs and dean of the

faculty at Whittier College in California, before coming to Idaho.

“My passion is academia and providing access to higher

education,” Borst says. “Coming from (Rutland, Vermont), a

town where people didn’t go to college and the economy suered,

I like to be part of organizations that want that kind of passion.”

Borst is also a published author with two books and numerousarticles and papers to her name. Her research focus is at the nexus

of how race and gender come together, what professionalism is and

how science shapes the whole of it.

“Charlotte has brought an unparalleled passion for everything

she’s involved in,” said Doug Brigham, chair of the school’s Board

of Trustees, in a letter of recommendation for this award, “whether

it’s hosting new students at her home, discussing the role of a liberal

arts education in the 21st century … or serving as an excellent role

model for the college’s 1,100 students – in particular the 51 percent

who are women.”

The new president says she takes “enormous delight” in how well

her students perform, both current students and past. She proudly tells

of how she recently met a College of Idaho alum on a plane who told

her that it was the college that “taught her how to think.”

“My biggest goal is to get us better–known and known national-

ly,” Borst says. “I’ve told my sta we’re not using the word ‘hidden,’

we’re just ‘a gem.’”

Outside of work, Borst loves to read, especially mysteries with

female protagonists and nonction. She and her husband, Richard

Censullo, who works remotely as an information technology director

for Logic Technology, have a son and daughter in California, and

Borst says her “biggest joy” is her new baby granddaughter, Fiona.

The couple also enjoys exploring Idaho’s wilderness, particularly

camping in the Sawtooth Mountains.

“My biggest goal is toget us better-knownand known nationally.I’ve told my staff we’re

not using the word‘hidden,’ we’re

just ‘a gem.’”

Charlotte G. Borst



9/68

Manager of leadership and digital media • Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce • BoiseBy Elizabeth Kasper


If you follow the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce on Twitter,

most likely the 140-character missives you’re reading were written

by Erin Cave. But that’s not all she does.

Asked to describe herself in one word, Cave chooses “magnet-

ic,” and her personality lends well to her career. Cave began working

at the chamber as an oce assistant, but today, she’s helping run the

show as manager of leadership and digital media. She admits this

sometimes results in being the one others come to with technology

questions, but she’s also helping to groom the future leaders of Boise.

“Working for the Boise Chamber, we are constantly connect-

ing individuals and businesses together,” Cave says. “I love to be a

resource to others, whether it’s for someone that needs an accoun-tant, or (for) a young professional looking for a mentor to further

their career.”

Cave’s main responsibility is to oversee the chamber’s

Leadership Boise, Leadership Boise Academy – for high school

juniors only – and Boise Young Professionals programs, designed to

help local businesses connect with individuals and talk about leader-

ship and work in Boise. The job involves wearing a lot of hats: Cave

does marketing, communications, social media, volunteer liaisons,

community relations, budgeting and raising sponsorships. And that’s

only part of the list.

“It is no coincidence that the chamber’s recent growth and

expanding inuence matches Erin’s expanding responsibilities in the

organization,” says Bill Connors, president and CEO of the cham-ber. “From helping us create a more dynamic social media presence,

to creative program management, to expanding our brand in the

community … Erin Cave is one of our community’s most talented

and likable young business leaders.”

Cave grew up in Eagle and says it “never crossed (her) mind”

to leave the area. She loves the close-knit community, but enjoys the

growth Boise’s experiencing.

“My oce is downtown and I get to see all the cranes going

up across the valley, but we still have that small-town feel,” she says.

In her time away from the oce, Cave gives back to the

community by volunteering with the Boise Public Library, local

schools and the Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees fashion show,

among others.Her passions include spending time with her daughters, Harper,

5, and Henley, 2, golf and running. Cave says she would like to have

more time for personal reading, but for right now, the books she

reads are mostly those “by Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss.” Cave credits

her mother, Anne Best, and sister, Katie Best, as being the most

inuential women in her life.

In the future, she wants to nish her education – she’d like

to study communications – and make the most of her career, and

she thinks those things will probably happen right here in the

Treasure Valley.

“Boise is a passion of mine,” Cave says simply.

“Boise is a passion of mine.”

Erin Cave



10/68

Environmental programs manager • Boise City Public Works Department • BoiseBy Elizabeth Kasper


Catherine Chertudi says she’s lucky to be doing what she’s

always wanted to do.

“I always knew that I wanted to work in helping protect

and conserve and be a steward of the environment,” she says.

She started at age 12, volunteering at a recycling center in her

hometown of Caldwell, and today, she oversees all the environ-

mental eorts for the Boise Public Works Department. Chertudi

manages the solid waste program, serving 73,000 households, and

Curb It, the city’s curbside recycling and trash collection program.

She is also proud of the household hazardous waste program, which

was a small, once-yearly event when she came to the public works

department and is now a year-round program, diverting more than25 million pounds of hazardous waste in Ada County.

“When I drive down the streets of Boise and I see that we don’t

have litter, I see people recycling, see the hazardous waste truck

picking up thousands of waste products, it makes me feel good,”

Chertudi says. “I know we’re making a dierence.”

Another large project Chertudi is excited about is the cleanup

of contaminated soil at the Esther Simplot Park site. When construc-

tion on the park began in April 2015, workers discovered contami-

nants in 130,000 yards of soil that needed to be excavated and tested.

It’s been quite an ordeal, Chertudi says: the biggest dump truck

available could only haul 20 yards of soil each trip to the testing site.

“It went on for weeks,” Chertudi says with a laugh. “But the

park is going to be phenomenal.”

Chertudi grew up in a family who “lived to be outdoors.” Herfather was the director of tourism for the state, so they spent signif-

icant time camping, hiking and shing. Chertudi even learned to

ice-skate on an Idaho lake. Her love of the Idaho outdoors is partly

what inspires her teaching, as well. Chertudi helped develop the

Idaho Water Awareness Week program, which teaches 8,000 ele-

mentary-age students across Idaho about the importance of water,

and she regularly teaches classes on water, trash and recycling, and

hazardous waste in local high schools and at Boise State University.

She says she is “blown away” by how motivated today’s students are.

“I love giving back and promoting education,” Chertudi says.

“I love seeing students connect with math, science and technology

and how important protecting and conserving the environment is

in their lives.”Since 1990, Chertudi has also judged high school speech and

interview competitions for the Idaho Academic Decathlon, something

she became interested in when her daughter joined the program.

As her son, Matthew, and daughter, Lauren, grew up, she

coached both of them in soccer. She and her husband, Jim, still enjoy

gardening and hiking together. Jim is an assistant vice president at

Washington Federal.

Professionally, Chertudi’s future goals include increasing oppor-

tunities for reducing waste and recycling in Boise. Her work, she

hopes, will ensure that Boise is “truly a sustainable community.”

And, just as she did when she was young, Chertudi says the rst

thing she does when she goes home at night is to go outside.

“When I drive downthe streets of Boiseand I see that we don’thave litter, I see people

recycling, see thehazardous waste truckpicking up thousandsof waste products, itmakes me feel good.I know we’re making a

difference.”

Catherine Chertudi



11/68

Director • GKFolks Foundation • Miss Africa Idaho • Twin FallsBy Elizabeth Kasper


For Winnie Christensen, helping out in the community isn’t just

something she does when she has time: it’s what she makes time for.

“I like giving back because the community’s been so nice to

me,” she says. “And whatever you put in, you get back out.”

And Christensen certainly puts in her all.

Born in Kenya, Christensen split her childhood between her

father’s home in Africa and her mother’s in the United States. She

went to school in both countries, and for that, she counts herself lucky.

“High school (in the United States) was such a culture shock for

me,” she says, laughing. “But I’m very blessed that I can appreciate

American culture (as well as) African culture.”

After moving to the United States permanently in 2005,Christensen attended Idaho State University and studied political

science and international relations. Upon graduation, she moved to

Twin Falls and started working for SL Start, a social services orga-

nization, helping people with disabilities, but it wasn’t “where my

passion was.” It was then that she started volunteering at the College

of Southern Idaho Refugee Center.

“It was so fullling,” Christensen says of that time. “In one

place, I could help people on an international level and in the local

community. It was meant to be.”

She worked as a volunteer and translator, and in 2014, she

also became a community advisor for the CSI Diversity Council,

a position she still holds. In the same year, she began working

with the GK Folks Foundation’s Miss Africa Idaho Scholarship

Program, and in 2015, she became the program’s director.

“At rst, I thought the scholarship program was so huge that Icouldn’t do it, but the results were so amazing that I felt it was worth

it,” Christensen says.

The program is about education and cultural scholarship – “no

bikinis, no tness competitions” – and bringing the best of Africa to

the stage. Contestants present platforms for research and proposed

cultural change both in the United States and in Africa and display

talents such as dancing, poetry reading or cooking. The program

“gives them an opportunity to show their pride, heritage, goals and

visions for Africa,” Christensen says.

Another project Christensen is undertaking is the creation of

the Refugee Healing Support Alliance, a nonprot she started with

Liyah Babayan, a 2015 Idaho Business Review Women of the Year

honoree, Twin Falls entrepreneur and herself an Armenian politicalrefugee. Their mission is to help refugees heal from traumatic expe-

riences and learn to live and work in the United States. Christensen

says she nds particular joy in helping women through this program.

“My major goal in life is to see more women, children and girls

empowered to voice out their opinion…and make major changes in

the world,” she says.

Christensen is also a proud wife to husband Antone and mother

to son Val Kitavi, 3 (Kitavi means “warrior” in Swahili). She loves

cooking and recently mastered Chicken Cordon Bleu, and she also

enjoys singing, shopping and making new friends.

In all she does, Christensen strives to live by her personal philos-

ophy: always give back to the community and be conscious of how

you make people feel, “because life is a chain reaction.”

“My major goal in life is tosee more women, children

and girls empowered tovoice out their opinion …

and make major changesin the world.”

Winnie Christensen Photo by Drew Nash



12/68

Executive Director • Idaho School Boards Association • BoiseBy Sharon Fisher


With the start of the Idaho Legislative session, executive

director of the nonprot Idaho School Boards Association

(ISBA) Karen Echeverria is wondering what it’s going to

be like.

“I think it’ll be a little slower year,” Echeverria says. “Of course,

I say that every year.”

Much of it boils down to money. Echeverria is hoping that,

with the improved economy, education will see less controversy. “We

work every year for increased funding for students,” she says. “We

know that every dollar we get that goes back to the district will have

a positive impact on students.”

Echeverria had served as deputy director for the Idaho StateBoard of Education in policy and government aairs, when former

ISBA chair Cli Green reached out to her about working in govern-

ment aairs at the association. She started working for the ISBA in

2007. When he left, she was named as interim, and then ocially

named to the position a few months later.

“When you’re at a state agency, you can’t really lobby,”

Echeverria explains. “You can advise legislators, but I felt like I

would have a bigger inuence if I could lobby them about specic

initiatives. Moving to a nonprot would provide me with more exi-

bility to support things that were near and dear to my heart.”

Passing legislation with an impact on education in Idahothat will lter down to kids is the most rewarding part of her job,

Echeverria says. For example, the organization recently worked on

legislation to develop an alternative school for sixth grade, which

could eventually help thousands of Idaho schoolchildren. “We want-

ed to have an alternative to get kids into special needs or smaller class

sizes, where they’re going to do better,” she explains.

Especially during the legislative session, Echeverria’s job is

time-consuming. “This job takes a lot of hours,” she says. “I couldn’t

do the job I do and have a young family. There’s too much evening

and weekend time.” Her counterparts around the nation are typical-

ly more men than women, and the women are either single or older.

When Echeverria was a young mother herself, she worked as an

administrative assistant before earning her paralegal certicate, afterrealizing she hadn’t been able to pursue some jobs due to a lack of

education. “I swore that if I ever got to a place when I was a manag-

er, I would remember what it was like to not be a manager, and make

sure everyone had equal opportunities and equal chances,” she says.

It’s still several years before Echeverria is looking to retire – she’s

hoping to “snowbird” by living in Arizona part of the year – but

she’s planning to stay involved. “I can do training in Arizona, and

training here for school board members,” she says. “I would like to

stay at that level.”

“I swore that if I evergot to a place when Iwas a manager, I wouldremember what it was

like to not be a manager,and make sure everyonehad equal opportunitiesand equal chances.”

Karen Echeverria



13/68

State director • USDA Child Nutrition Programs • BoiseBy Elizabeth Kasper


You might say Colleen Asumendi Fillmore is

a living link: a link between the future and

the past.

For her 9 to 5 job, Fillmore works as the state

director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s

Child Nutrition Program, making sure Idaho’s kids

are nding healthy options for school lunches. She is

also the area chair of the natural science department for

the University of Phoenix.

Her other passion, however, is celebrating and highlight-

ing her heritage.

Fillmore, who was raised in Boise, grew up with an Irish mother

and Basque father, and the Basque culture was central to the family’s life.Even her name suggests it: “Asumendi” is a Basque name. It was “just the

environment (she) was in” – the family would often attend festivals, and

Basque food was a staple. Fillmore says her favorite dish was tripe, which

comes from the stomach walls of a cow. She and her sister participated

in Basque dancing, though she admits they both giggled in the back row

most of the time.

Today, Fillmore leads tours of the Basque Block in downtown

Boise, and she helps with Jaialdi, a Basque festival that takes place every

ve years in Boise. She even authored a book about Basque dietary cul-

ture and tradition.

“The Basques are a positive, festive, proud people,” she says. “(I

believe that) without a connection to something bigger than ourselves,

we are nothing.”

On the business side, Fillmore’s responsibilities are mainly nancial

these days, but she loves contributing positively to the growth

of Idaho’s future leaders.“I truly believe it’s one of the best jobs you can have,”

Fillmore says of being a dietitian. “Children bring such

a spark to life … I am very fortunate to get to do that.”

As director of the program, Fillmore manages

the $90 million budgeted for Idaho and makes sure

the USDA’s requirements are followed. The guide-

lines often change, so she travels across the country to

learn what’s new in the eld. She also oversees wellness

programs, garden grants and farm-to-school programs

throughout the state.

At the University of Phoenix, Fillmore lends her expertise

as the chair of the natural sciences department through teaching and

being a liaison between the teachers and administration. Additionally,

Fillmore volunteers her time with groups such as Nourishing Idaho’sChildren, Feed the Gap, the National Farm-to-School Network and the

Hunger Summit Coalition.

“I see myself more as a mentor to the under-privileged than anything

else,” Fillmore says. “I love to take the energy of people around me and

channel it to the next step for the combined development in our lives.”

Outside of work, family is paramount for Fillmore. She and her

husband, Je, who were high school sweethearts, have been married

for 37 years and have two sons, 35 and 33. They enjoy being outside

together – “I would love to say I’m out in the garden as much as he is

these days!” – and Fillmore tries to walk 12,000 steps every day. She also

enjoys reading, particularly spiritual books and mysteries.

“I feel my personal philosophy is still being shaped on a daily basis,”

Fillmore says. “I believe it is a person’s responsibility to learn from every

experience and grow in a positive way.”

“I feel my personalphilosophy is still beingshaped on a dailybasis. I believe it is a

person’s responsibilityto learn from everyexperience and growin a positive way.”

Colleen Asumendi Fillmore

W O M

E N • O

F • T H E

• Y

E A

R

C I

C L E

O F

E X C E L L E N

C E



14/68

Assistant Vice President • Idaho Regional Communications • Wells Fargo Bank • BoiseBy Deanna Darr


When Julie Fogerson chose communications as her college major,

she thought it would let her try things out to see what she liked.

She never expected she would use her degree, but she was right

about it letting her explore her passions, whether it is making movies, living

in Antarctica, traveling the world, learning multiple languages or working

toward a doctorate in leadership.

“It’s ironic I ended up using my actual degree,” she says with a laugh.

But that degree led her from college at the Hawaii Pacic University

to jobs in public relations in Seattle and New York City. It was while living

in the Big Apple that she went back to school as part of a program oered

by her employer, earning her master’s degree in negotiation and dispute

resolution at Creighton University.

As with many things in Fogerson’s life, she may not have planned onpursing mediation, but she followed an interest that became a passion.

“Dispute resolution techniques help us in our daily lives,” she says.

“As a society, I feel we’ve become so sue happy, and there’s an alternative.”

Her lifelong desire to learn and study led this Northwestern native

who grew up largely in Ontario, Ore., and Pocatello, to set out to travel the

world – literally.

“I had a goal to hit every single continent and Antarctica is the hardest

one,” she says of her wanderlust and eventual job on the bottom of the

world. (She checked o her nal continent last year with a trip to Colombia.)

She had toyed with the idea for years, since learning of programs to

work there from a college friend. When her life in New York City reached

a changing point, she entered the extremely competitive pool for one of a

handful of oce jobs at McMurdo Station.

As she waited to see if she was hired, she visited her family in Idaho. It wasduring that trip that she started a conversation with the brother of her sister’s

husband, and the two hit it o. She got the job and headed south for a summer

season, doing scheduling in the vehicle maintenance facility.

After that rst season, she and her now-husband, Adam Chitwood,

got married, and this time both of them were able to spend another season

in Antarctica.

For Fogerson, it was about more than adventure. “Antarctica made

me think about what I like to do in a way I hadn’t been able to in a long

time,” she says.

And what she loves are what she calls her passion areas, and she stays

involved by volunteering with theater groups and joining the Idaho Writers’

Guild. They are pursuits she doesn’t take for granted. “Experience has

taught me to really think about what I love and hold that present.”

It’s this approach that earned her honors as diverse as having a shortlm screened at the Seattle Film Festival, to receiving an Antarctic Service

Medal from the National Science Foundation, to now working on her doc-

torate in leadership from Creighton University.

Her new eld of study falls in line with her job with Wells Fargo Bank.

It’s a job she never expected, but one she has jumped into with every-

thing she has. “It’s the most amazing thing I never would have anticipat-

ed. It’s the best crew all in one place that I’ve ever gotten to work with,”

Fogerson said. “I’m in awe of how it all came together.”

While her daily life is in Boise with her husband and stepson, Taylor,

14, she’s always looking for where opportunity will take her.

“I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. I think of my

life like that,” she says.

“I’m never going to leavea possible opportunityuntouched.”

Julie Fogerson



15/68

Owner• AF Public Solutions LLC • BoiseBy Sharon Fisher


This is actually Ashley Ford-Squyres’ second

time as one of IBR’s Women of the Year.

“I got this award in 2009,” she says. “One

of the things the story said was that I wanted to

be on the City Council by the time I was 40, and

mayor of Boise by the time I was 52. People have

remembered that.”

But in the meantime, life intervened. Ford-Squyres

was working at Red Sky Public Relations at that time, and

now has her own rm. “When I left Red Sky, I kind of got o

that bus,” she says. “I want to be me as a person for a while. I’ve

always believed that I am meant to do something big. And I alwaysthought it was mayor of Boise. I don’t think that any more, but at my

core I believe I’m meant to do something big, and I need to gure

out what that is.”

Ford-Squyres’ primary role is administrator for the Meridian

Development Corp. Meridian’s urban renewal agency. After securing

that contract her rst year at Red Sky, she went out on her own to

better satisfy the needs of MDC. “The skills I was going to learn

would come better through working as an administrator for an urban

renewal district rather than a private agency,” she says.

With MDC, Ford-Squyres has worked on developments such as

The Village, focusing on entitlements and approvals with the various

city and county agencies. To do that, she worked with a team from the

law rm of Givens Pursley. “It was a huge project, with lots

of legal maneuvering.”The urban renewal agency also encompasses

downtown, which some Meridianites call Old Town

– from City Hall to Pine Ave., and from Meridian

Road to east Third, Ford-Squyres describes. Right

now, she’s working on a three-prong project for

downtown that would include a multipurpose con-

ference center, hotel, and performing arts facility.

“There’s a lack of meeting space in Meridian, espe-

cially compared with the Nampa Civic Center, Idaho

Center, and Boise Centre On the Grove,” she explains.

MDC is performing a feasibility study to gure out what

such a project would look like, and whether it would be supported by

the community. “It will require some level of public nancing, as wellas the creation of an auditorium district and probably a community

infrastructure district as well,” Ford-Squyres says. “If we only have

40 percent support, we’re never going to get to 66 2/3 percent,”

which is the level required to pass a bond. “As much as I would love

to believe that someone would come and give me $70 million, that’s

not going to happen.”

Ford-Squyres is also re-engaging in volunteering, working on

last fall’s “I love Boise” campaign for more open space, and getting

involved with Wine, Women & Shoes, beneting the Idaho Youth

Ranch. “I’m trying to nd a balance of organizations that need

someone like me that are fun and speak to something in my life that

may be missing as well,” she says.

“At my core, I believe I’mmeant to do something big,and I need to fgure outwhat that is.”

Ashley Ford-Squyres

W O M

E N • O

F • T H E

• Y

E A

R

C I

C L E

O F

E X C E L L E N

C E



16/68

Executive Director • Idaho Nonprofit Center • BoiseBy Jeanne Huf

Idaho Business Review

To Janice Fulkerson, the importance of the

phrase “feelings matter” is represented by a

painting created by her son Brian that hangs

on her oce wall. In college, during an evening

Art Therapy class with her then 10-year-old son in

tow with the instructor’s permission, she watched

as Brian quietly painted colorful uy shapes. Other

students also brought children, “dozens who were not

so quiet,” Fulkerson says. And after the instructor yelled at

the “children of Janice Fulkerson” to “shut up,” Brian’s painting

abruptly changed.

Feeling the instructor’s anger, his painting turned dark andmessy. And, “he went from a happy face to a frowny face,” Fulkerson

says. “This was one of those really big visuals – how we treat people

and the feelings behind it matters. I’ve put that painting up in every

oce I move in to.”

It’s part of the thread that runs through her life. Fulkerson was in

4th grade when smallpox was eradicated and she remembers because

she became alarmed when her brother was not vaccinated as she and

her sister had been. “I wrote a letter to the editor worried that my

little brother would die if he didn’t get a vaccination,” she says. The

letter brought a lot of attention to the issue and Fulkerson, heady from

the experience, thought she wanted to be a writer when she grew up

“because I could change the world,” she says with a laugh.

It was also the moment she decided that whatever she did do,

she wanted to be sure the end result was in helping others.

Fulkerson did not become a writer, but in everyendeavor since that day, she has stayed true to help-

ing others. She’s worked in the CASA program

where she served in an advocacy role for children

and is proud that she “did not turn away any cases

during my term.”

She’s also been a board member for Meals-on-

Wheels, has mentored a “little” in Big Brothers Big

Sisters since 2012, has served in “many roles” for Boise

State Public Radio, was recently appointed on the board

of Your Health Idaho, and has been active in Rotary Club of

Boise Metro since 2007 and is serving this year as the president.

And, in her day job, Fulkerson has a number of milestones

of which to be proud. She led the Idaho Gives team increasing the

results from $578,000 in year one to $1.1 million in year three, and

increased the number of participating nonprots from 500 to 675.

Married to her high school sweetheart for 32 years, Fulkerson

took up road biking in 2013, and has upped her mileage to over 60

miles per ride. She is an accomplished seamstress and as of January

9, is proud grandmother to Theron Newt. And, if she’s listening to

rock and roll, and she’s alone, she’s probably dancing. “I’m a secret

dancer,” Fulkerson says, with a laugh. “I love to dance but I’m really

bad at it so I only do it by myself.”

Her advice to others: “Be brave, be curious, and be safe.

“Appreciate every day. Find the little victories. Find that little

something to celebrate everyday.”

“Appreciate every day.Find the little victories.Find that little somethingto celebrate everyday.”

Janice E. Fulkerson

W O M

E N • O

F • T H E

• Y

E A

R

C I

C L E

O F

E X C E L L E N

C E



17/68

Community Liaison • Treasure Valley Hospice • Mountain HomeBy Carissa Wolf


Brandie Garlitz just wanted to ex her business muscles. She

didn’t ever think a business hunch would turn into a daily

meditation on what really matters in life.

“I looked around the community and I saw a need that we have.

We have an elderly population and no one around to really help them.”

That very practical thinking inspired her to open One Solution LCC an

at home health care and recovery service. It had Garlitz doing every-

thing from the business’s books and marketing to checking in on elderly

patients and doing their grocery shopping.

She networked as CEO of One Solution and when an oer

came along to seque her experience into a community relation spe-

cialist role at Treasure Valley Hospice, she already knew she had ahuge capacity to care. But she didn’t jump at the new job prospect.

At least, not at rst.

“I didn’t know I could do hospice,” she recalls. “My heart

strings were already pulled going into people’s homes.”

Garlitz said “yes” to Treasure Valley Hospice where she

launched a branch, manages public relations, oversees administra-

tive operations and keeps a close connection with clients through

elderly health education duties.

“When crisis hits you and you don’t have information, it can be

overwhelming,” she says.“It’s a very intimate time. There’s nality. A lot of people want

to and need to leave a legacy and hospice can help with that,” she

says of her work with the dying.

In addition, Garlitz works with youth through 4-H and is assis-

tant program manager and instructor for the Young Entrepreneur’s

Academy. The latter is for 6th to 12th graders “with the end means

sparking young, private enterprise,” she says.

Garlitz lists as major inuences in her life her mother, “the rst

person who taught me about giving and how to really love people

unconditionally;” Honey Goodman, one of the 2013 Women of the

Year and “a professional mentor who has shown me how to be bold

and humble; and Bobbie Spencer who has “taught me the meaning

of seless service and what a true hero is.”The Air Force veteran says 10 years in the military prepared her

for life but says it’s her clients that teach her how to live life.

“I’ve learned that every moment is precious. Everyone needs

love and aection and everyone deserves dignity,” she says.

“If we knew the end was soon, what would we do dierently?

You think about what’s really important. Family is important. Kids

are important. The chip in the window is not important. Problems

will pass.”

“Every moment is precious.Everyone needs love andaffection and everyonedeserves dignity.”

Brandie Garlitz



18/68

Executive Director • City of Boise • Boise Urban Garden School • BoiseBy Carissa Wolf


Growth plays a reoccurring theme in Erin Guerricabeitia’s

life.

She tends Boise Urban Garden School as its executive

director where she’s seen the garden’s programs and reach grow. She

volunteers to help women realize their own potential through per-

sonal growth and she’s known as “mom.” And anyone who answers

to “mom” knows how everyday days center around directing growth

in the right direction.

It’s Guerricabeitia’s mom job that landed her in her current job

thanks to some questions about a dierent kind of growth.

“My 3 year old asked, ‘Where does broccoli come from?”

The question set the mother of three on a new path thatinstilled a determination to grow something tangible that she could

feed her 3 year-old daughter.

While a simple question about food inspired Guerricabeitia to dig

up some dirt, she saw a larger problem behind her toddler’s question.

She saw a disconnect between what we eat and where it comes from.

“I decided that the real lesson for my children was learning the

origins of our food, that food doesn’t come on a shelf or in a box,

and that these lessons can be taught in our own backyard.”

The Idaho Business Review Accomplished Under 40 honoree

and former Boise Young Professionals Young Leader of the Year

knew her way around nonprots, so when BUGS needed a new lead-

er in 2011, Guerricabeitia saw an opportunity to grow a multitudeof dreams at once.

“I was excited to work with an organization that shared my

passion for education, the environment, promoting healthy eating,

and reducing childhood obesity,” she says.

But those early days weren’t easy. Guerricabeitia says she inher-

ited a good foundation but money was tight and a lot of people still

didn’t know much about the school.

“I wanted to change that conversation,” she says. “That rst

year, I talked to anyone who was interested in unban gardening.”

Those early conversations fertilized BUGS mission and put the

garden on a path toward rapid growth. Last year BUGS expanded

its growth by partnering with the City of Boise Parks and Recreation

department. And networks with community donors helped raise thefunds needed to build a new 1,500-square-foot education center and

create an education garden at Comba Park in west Boise.

The garden space, education center and city partnership plant-

ed the seeds BUGS needed to grow and now the garden’s reach that

targets low-income kids includes expanded school support, youth

and community gardens, classes, camps, and workshops.

The BUGS gardens feed families, provide community members

with low-cost, healthy produce, and serve as a laboratory to teach the

skills necessary to live active healthy lives.

“We’re changing lives,” she says.

“We’re changing lives.”

Erin Guerricabeitia



19/68

Internal Audit Director • J.R. Simplot Company • BoiseBy Carissa Wolf


Joey Hale’s kids might nd out who really runs the show at Zoo

Boise someday.

“They think I own the zoo. They think I work there,” the

mother of three kids under the age of 6 says.

“The zoo for them is just like going to the parks,” she says. “They’re

going to gure out that I don’t work there but I volunteer there because

it’s important.”

The Hale children’s conclusion makes sense. She’s at the zoo a lot.

Her years of volunteer service and board work all started with a simple

question. The Hale kids kept asking where they kept the lions.

There were no lions when the lion question surfaced so Hale got to

work so that she could answer her kids’ question with a trip to Zoo Boise.

That launched Hale’s fundraising and volunteer eorts, and, thanks in partto Hale, Boiseans can visit a bit of Africa when they visit their local zoo.

“It’s pretty special to have something like this in a community this

size,” Hale says of the lions that now sun themselves under Boise rays.

The Hale kids understand the work their mom does at Zoo Boise

but it might take a little more time to wrap their heads around what she

does 9 to 5.

“There’s no better way to shut down a conversation on a plane than

to say I’m an auditor,” she jokes.

Hale has found herself in an airplane passenger seat plenty of times

as director of internal audits with the J.R. Simplot Company.

“I just wanted a position that would allow a broad perspective on

things,” she says.

She’s gained that broad perspective at the J.R. Simplot Company

and a broad worldview to go with it. Her position enables her to see what’s

happening across the entire company and across the globe thanks to occa-

sional business trips to places like Beijing, Shanghai and Australia. WhileHale digs deep into internal operations at Simplot, she keeps her focus on

the kids that inspired her to help bring lions to Boise.

“The hardest thing is striking a balance, especially since my oldest

started school,” she says. “It comes down to team work. It’s about having

that support system and having a balance.”

Hales strikes that balance while keeping her eye on what’s import-

ant – something that she says isn’t easy for anyone in our ever-more-con-

nected world.

“As connected as we are now with social media, it’s really hard to

not compare yourself to others,” she says. “There’s this fear of not mea-

suring up. We really can’t fall into that trap.”

Hale measures her successes by what kind of world she’ll leave for

her children. It’s a standard she learned from her late parents.

“They just gave and gave of themselves and never expected any-thing in return,” she says of her mother and father who passed away in

2012 and 2010. The couple, who still stole kisses from each other in the

kitchen until the very end, raised their brood in Northern Idaho and

taught their kids about nature and conservation.

“We liked to call them the original environmentalists,” Hale says.

“We planted thousands of trees.”

Hale’s parents instilled in her a love for all things wild – from trees

to lions – and taught her the importance of leaving the world better

than she found it. Hale echoes her father’s motto when she talks about

the why behind her countless hours of volunteer work at Zoo Boise and

local schools.

“If you live in this world, you need to leave it better than you found it.”

It’s a motto Hale now passes down to her children with every visit

to Boise’s own lions.

“If you live in thisworld, you needto leave it betterthan you found it.”

Johanna (Joey) C. L. Hale



20/68

Senior Anchor • KTVB-TV • BoiseBy Carissa Wolf


Carolyn Holly needs no introduction.

You’ve turned to her during times of uncertainty. You’ve

looked to her to set the facts straight. She’s cheered many of you

on. And some of us grew up with her.

When Holly started at KTVB she had a year-long stint as a reporter

at KIFI-TV in Idaho Falls and newly minted degree in broadcasting

from Oregon State University under her belt.

“I walked through those doors in 1982 as a single, young girl right

out of college,” she says.

She’s since added a husband, six kids and 15 grandkids to her life.

Along the way, she’s picked up Idaho Press Club honors, an Edward R.

Murrow award and an Emmy for her work as a reporter and anchor

at KTVB.She’s also taken viewers on tours around the world from Japan to

Vancouver, British Colombia covering everything from trade missions

to the Olympic Games. Between assignments she’s learned to trust her

gut, cheered her kids on in youth sports and found time to give to her

community behind the scenes and in some very visible ways.

It seems natural for a woman who came from a family that put a

premium value on giving back to the community. Holly remembers her

dad volunteering with youth sports and found her adopted hometown of

Boise an easy place in which to give.

“I love this community,” she says. “Boise is such a unique place to

do volunteer work.”

Holly found that Boiseans love to give and she’s no dierent.

Perhaps you saw her urging the public not to text and drive or

cheering runners to reach their potential as emcee of the FitOne run.

It sounds like a lot to balance in an ever more competitive eld.

“I always put my family rst, and I earned the right to do that,” shesays. “I’m a mother rst and a TV anchor second.”

But Holly always wears the cheerleader hat in both jobs.

“I love to help other people discover their strengths,” she says.

And Holly steps up to cheer for everyone – from the mom crossing

the nish line to the young reporters who enter the KTVB newsroom

much as she did 33 years ago.

“What people don’t see during the nightly news is her commitment

to mentoring young journalists, many of whom go on to become leaders

within our community,” wrote KTVB News Group Executive News

Director Kate Morris.

A lot the cheerleading that’s behind Holly’s service helped dene

the newsroom culture at KTVB and the career paths of many

up-and-coming journalists. Ask any journalist what working in the news

industry is like. They often speak of intense competition. Holly prefersto work with cooperation and crafted a moto with fellow anchor Dee

Sarton that helps push everyone forward.

“We don’t compete, we consolidate,” she and Sarton say.

And that’s so important in the business world where intense competi-

tion between women can stand in the way of everyone succeeding, she says.

“You can accomplish so much more as a team than an individ-

ual,” she says. “Treat everyone as though they are an important part

of your team.”

Holly is leaving the newsroom behind to embark on a new career.

She will be joining a new team at Saint Alphonsus Health System as vice

president of public relations, community relations and marketing. In a

letter to her viewers, Holly wrote: “I look forward to working on projects

and partnerships to better all of us.”

Of her work at KTVB she says she’s “cherished every moment.”

“I am a cheerleader …I love to help other peoplediscover their strengths.”

Carolyn Holly



21/68


There is nothing more powerful than determined women.

They inspire. They teach. They bring us together. That’s

why Saint Alphonsus congratulates all of IBR’s Women

of the Year honorees. Including Carolyn Holly, who has

touched the lives of so many in the Treasure Valley.

We’re thrilled to see Carolyn in such good company

as we welcome her to the Saint Alphonsus team.

We celebrate, along with all of Idaho, how our community

is made stronger by the leadership, determination and

vision of these great women. Congratulations.

Saint Alphonsus is proud

to welcome Carolyn Holly,

Vice President of Marketing,

Communications and

Public Relations

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2016 IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW’S WOMEN OF THE YEAR HONOREES

Celebrating women of vision.

(208) 367-DOCS SaintAlphonsus.org


22/68

Economic Development Director • City of Nampa • NampaBy Sharon Fisher


When Nampa’s old Mercy Hospital burned down recently,

economic development director Beth Ineck literally saw

three years’ worth of work go up in smoke.

“That was disappointing,” Ineck says. “That’s a project I’ve

been somewhat involved with since I started with the city, guring

out what to do with that building. Seeing it destroyed by re was real-

ly disheartening.” But she moved on, continuing to talk with three

potential partners who were still interested in the location.

Ineck’s primary focus, when she joined the city, was downtown

redevelopment, including security property for Nampa’s new public

safety building and library. More recently, she’s focused on existing

businesses, particularly on supporting entrepreneurial developmentin Nampa. “The work is very dierent from ve years ago,” she says.

“As the political environment changes in the community, what the

mayor’s oce wants to see in the community, we pivot and use our

skills in a dierent way. Ultimately, we’re still making the community

a better place.”

Economic development was a natural career path. “My mom’s

an economist and my dad’s a social worker,” Ineck explains.

“Combine those two, and you get an economic development direc-

tor.” She was particularly interested in rural economic development,

which was a newer eld in the state, so she went to the University of

Idaho for a master’s degree in agricultural economics after earning

her bachelor’s from the University of Tennessee in economics.It’s been interesting to Ineck to see the changes in the economic

development profession, which she says is now attracting a younger,

more minority, and more female applicant. “A lot of economic devel-

opment is just marketing, which has traditionally been a strength for

women,” she says. When she started working for the Department of

Commerce at 25, many of the economic development sta had had

previous careers, took that business experience, and had gone into

economic development as a retirement job. “As it becomes more

known what economic developers do, people look at it as a rst

career,” she says.

Ineck’s volunteer work with organizations such as the Idaho

Economic Development Association and serving as Idaho Alliance

co-chair with the International Council of Shopping Centers hasalso helped with her job. “With a greater association with the devel-

opment community, I can better pitch what Nampa has to oer for

retail development,” she says.

“It’s like gardening,” Ineck explains. “You plant the seed, watch

it grow, and see the fruit at the end of the day.” She particularly

likes bringing in new employers. “When we brought in Heartland

RV and they had their job fair, I was watching hundreds of people

ll out applications, knowing they’d hire 400-500 people,” she says.

“That’s really rewarding, to know of the impact on the daily lives of

the people who’d get that job.”

“My mom’s an economistand my dad’s a social

worker. Combine those two,and you get an economic

development director.”

Beth Ineck



23/68

Senior Treasury Analyst • Forex and Risk Management • Micron Technology Inc. • BoiseBy Carissa Wolf


Sarah Xiaoye Jin discovered the path to her American dream

through an Idahoan in a cowboy hat.

As an assistant in the Idaho Commerce Department

Shanghai Trade oce Jin found herself developing relationships

between China and Idaho trade delegates, organizing trade mis-

sions, and, among other things, serving as an interpreter for Idaho

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. It was on one of those trade missions that

Jin met the governor who would inspire her to chase an American

dream on Idaho soil.

“I was so nervous,” Jin says of meeting Otter at a Shanghai air-

port nearly 8 years ago. “I’d never seen him before. He was wearing

a cowboy hat, so that was helpful.” Jin trailed Otter throughout his China trade mission and saw

opportunity in the connections he forged. So when an opportunity

opened for Jin to work and study in the United States, she jumped

at the opportunity to kiss Shanghai goodbye and transplant herself

on Idaho soil.

“It took a lot of courage because I didn’t know many people,”

Jin remembers. “When I stepped out of the airport, I felt like I

was reborn.”

Jin’s rebirth included earning a master’s in education and

in business administration on full scholarship from Boise State

University, and a quick climb up the ranks of Micron where she nowhedges over $1 billion in monthly currency exposures, and, among

other things, analyzes nancial forecasts and results.

She says she has been inuenced by Elizabeth Holmes, a

successful businesswoman who became a billionaire before the age

of 30. “She started a blood testing company when she was 19 as a

freshman at Stanford University with the goal to save lives … she

now has a company with over 500 employees and has been valued

at more than $9 billion in 2014.” From that story, Jin says, “I can see

that everything is possible if you believe in your own dream and have

the courage to follow and execute it.”

While Jin lives the dream, she keeps her eye on a dream to help

others realize dreams of their own.

“You have to follow your heart and follow your dreams. And you have to have the guts to do it,” she says.

Her dreams include opening a language institute where she can

help ll in some of the second language education gaps that plague

American schools and oer individual tutoring and language lessons

to people who want to sharpen their own second language skills.

She sees a second language as a pathway to success and knows if

she didn’t have the advantage of English and Mandarin uency, she

would have never been able to greet that governor in a cowboy hat.

“Language can change your life.”

“Language canchange your life.”

Sarah (Xiaoye) Jin



24/68

Communications and Marketing Director • Treasure Valley Family YMCA • BoiseBy Carissa Wolf


Katherine Johnson knows there’s a story behind every success.

Her story includes chapters that unfold in Moscow, Idaho

(where Johnson went to college), Denver, Colorado (where

Johnson learned what not to do as a boss), and in waiting rooms at the

Women’s and Children’s Alliance (where Johnson nds her inspiration).

But Johnson would much rather tell you about other people’s stories.

“What happens every day at the YMCA is worth sharing. But

we didn’t have a megaphone to share those stories,” Johnson says.

The YMCA of Boise marketing and communication director

gured that if a megaphone didn’t exist, she’d just construct one. So

that’s what she did, and along the way she built a loyal team that now

heralds the stories written by every day triumphs at the Y.And she always speaks of those successes in terms of “we,” even

when she leads them.

“We did a lot of foundational things to give the Y a voice,”

she says, referring to the public awareness campaigns that included

attention to tiny technical details and eyeball-grabbing Web and

social media launches.

“We have numbers to show our growth, but now people are

seeing it,” she says.

People see that growth and the triumphs that spill from Y

programs in the stories that Johnson and her team tell through theTweets, posts and clicks that are part of the external communication

and marketing plan Johnson launched and developed. And those

stories have become part of Johnson’s own narrative.

“I am extremely drawn to any story that involves young children

and education,” she says.

Johnson tells the story of a young boy who wasn’t heading

toward a happy ending.

“His story could have determined his life. But he went into (a

YMCA) program and had teachers who believed in him,” Johnson says.

“Now, he’s over the roof smart,” she says. “We’ll keep an eye

on him.”

Those kinds of stories also keep Johnson coming back to the

WCA where the former Idaho Business Review AccomplishedUnder 40 honoree has volunteered since 2010.

“They can’t get rid of me,” she laughs.

Inside the waiting rooms of the WCA she sometimes hears

the stories. She hears women tell them behind a smile on their face.

She hears epic stories of survival and of non-ction plots marked

by triumph.

“These are the underdogs,” Johnson says. “They need our

help.”

“What happens every day atthe YMCA is worth sharing.”

Katherine Johnson



25/68

Executive Director, Board Chair and Co-Director • Treasure Valley Children’sTheater LLC/Treasure Valley YOUTH Theater Inc. • Meridian

By Sharon Fisher


While Autumn Kersey’s rst theater production was when she was

4 years old, she was on stage even earlier: Her mother was in a

play while pregnant with her.

As the only child of a single mother with three jobs, community theater

became Kersey’s second home. “I fell in love with it,” she says. “Not only

because it gave me a place to feel comfortable and explore, it became my

family. Theater was my place to gure out what life was all about and what

it could be.”

Now, Kersey brings that same opportunity to Treasure Valley children

through two production companies: a professional adult company that

produces theater for youth, and a nonprot that provides education and

leadership for youth.

Kersey studied theater for two years and then took a year o to become

a professional actor. “I stopped having fun, I stopped enjoying it, and I

became critical and unhappy,” she recalls. She switched gears and earned a

communications degree at Boise State, minoring in theater.

Kersey then ran theater programs for kids through Boise Parks and

Recreation Department and Boise Little Theater. “I was good at it, and it

made me feel really good,” she says. “It made me feel like whatever environ-

mental or spiritual being exists in the world was working through me, and

set me on this trajectory.”

Perhaps, Kersey thought, she should go into education. “I got my

master’s, but I determined pretty quickly that the public school environ-

ment was not where I would excel.” Instead, she worked in fundraising

for Planned Parenthood, and then in advertising sales for the Idaho Business

Review, all while keeping her toes in community theater, acting, directing

and producing.

“I acknowledged what I had within myself: Passion, talent, and now

contacts and the technical understanding of how to create a business,” she

says. “Any time I reect on my crazy weird life it surprises me how everything

I’ve ever done in my life has led me to this moment.”

In 2012, parents in the youth summer theater program Kersey was

directing told her, “’Autumn, you are so good at this. How can we get you

to oer this to our kids all the time?’” she recalls. “It was time to really take

this seriously. I was coming up on my 40th birthday.” First, she formed the

professional company and then, a year later, the nonprot. And she stepped

away slowly from her sales job, working part-time for nearly a year. “It was

really baby steps the rst year,” she says.

Why Meridian? “In 2012, as I was looking around the valley at where

the gaps were, Meridian was the only community that wasn’t being served

by any theater group,” Kersey explains. In talking to business groups,

as well as Meridian’s mayor, she realized Meridian was the place to be.

“Families are moving here, and there’s more students per capita than any

area in the state.”

And so far, so great. But Kersey does not take success for granted, nor

does she take all the credit. “I do not do any of this by myself,” Kersey notes.

“It’s my dream, but you can’t build it without a lot of support. I’m really

grateful to all (who have been there for me) for buying in on the crazy idea

of making a living out of art.”

“I do not do any of this bymyself. It’s my dream, butyou can’t build it without

a lot of support. I’m really

grateful to all (who havebeen there for me) for

buying in on the crazy ideaof making a living

out of art.”

Autumn Kersey



26/68

Mayor • City of Ammon • AmmonBy Carissa Wolf


Dana Boothe Kirkham just wanted to x a few things in her

neighborhood. The next thing she knew, she held the title of

mayor for the City of Ammon and had a major overhaul of

a water and ber optic systems under her belt.

“You start trying to x those (neighborhood) issues and next

thing you know, you’re the president of the homeowners association

and the next thing you know, you run for city council and you win.

Then your vision broadens and you see that there’s other things that

need attention so you work on those. Then, you’re mayor,” Boothe

Kirkham says with a hint of humor that speaks to her motto: Leave

things better than you found them.

The former Boise State University Women Making Historyhonoree takes that motto to city council meetings and into the

classroom where she serves as an adjunct professor in political

science at Brigham Young University - Idaho. And it’s her typical

fashion to deect credit for making history and insist that she gets

more out of what she gives – both to her students and the citizens

of Ammon.

“I’m one of those people that could have been a career student,”

she says. “Nothing makes me happier than being in the classroom.”

Boothe Kirkham’s love of learning remains apparent in howshe governs. She stood as a young 34-year-old when she took an oath

of oce as a city council member in 2004 and she says she keeps

learning in her role as civil servant.

“I have a lot more wisdom (now),” she says. “I realized how little

I knew (in 2004). The more I learn, the more I nd out how much

I don’t know.”

Boothe Kirkham has learned some big lessons from her helm

over the city of Ammon. She knows more about ber optics than

she ever planned thanks to a city-wide system she helped implement.

And she can talk about the intricacies of water pressure units as well

as she can lecture on political theory.

She learns her lessons through lenses of empathy that help

guide what she calls a pragmatic approach to governing.“You put yourself in (people’s) shoes. You owe it to them to

get things xed … it’s what you do as part of being a good citizen.”

In addition, Boothe Kirkham lists as her greatest accomplish-

ment “raising two amazing daughters who are productive contrib-

utors to society,” and she is also proud to have nished the grueling

206-mile bicycle race, LoToJa, from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole,

Wyoming, “a half hour after closing, but still nished!”

“Do the right thing,even if it’s not easy.”

Dana Boothe KirkhamPhoto by Josh Petersen



27/68

Director of Community Partnerships • City of Boise • BoiseBy Stephanie Schaerr Hansen


As director of community partnerships for the City of Boise,

Diana Lachiondo is the mayor’s point person for a variety of

hot-button issues, from refugees to homelessness. But while

others can get bogged down in conicting views and burea

Documents

2016 IBR Women of the Year