Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay St. Germain
Hi Lindsay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2012 I was talking to a friend of mine in Michigan about wanting to get more involved with the Kansas City community. At the time I was a traveling consultant, gone about 80% of the time, so I knew committing to a large volunteer opportunity like Big Brothers Big Sisters or dog fostering wouldn’t be attainable for me. She mentioned that she was part of a group called 100 Women Who Care, who met once per quarter, learned about charities and donated $100 to a given charity in a quarter. It was an early “giving circle.” She told me to look up if Kansas City had any. I did, and we didn’t have one, so I reached out to the leader of the Brighton, MI chapter, who mentored me on how I could start a chapter here. After a few months of research and some planning, I launched 100+ Women Who Care, Kansas City in March of 2013. We’re in our 12th year and to date, we’ve given over $430,000 to the local KC community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. When I started, I purposely didn’t limit the area of town we were targeting for members. Given the size of the KC metro area I thought we’d find 100 members in no time. Ironically, because we don’t target just the Northland, or just a specific suburb, it’s been hard to grow quickly because a lot of people in the KC area don’t like to travel far out of their little zone. The pace of our growth has been surprising and hard. We are over 100 members now, but it’s taken us years.
Also, again given the size of the metro area, publicity has been harder than anticipated. Local TV stations, newspapers, etc. aren’t as interested in covering us as I had hoped.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a Sr. Director at a company focused on implementing electronic medical record software for Critical Access and smaller community size hospitals. In my work, I oversee a team of 230+ focused on improving the healthcare offerings of hospitals throughout the US. I was instrumental in developing a business unit over the past 15 years, helping it grow from 20 associates with 3 active new client projects, to implementing over 30 projects per year. Throughout my career I have worked to improve health care delivery, and I am particularly passionate about ensuring rural providers receive first class IT solutions.
I am known as a relationship builder, and I have a passion for helping others succeed, both at work and in their personal lives; that instinct encompasses both my professional and community activity.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I believe luck has played some part in my successes. It was lucky that I happened upon my current company’s open position as a college student coming up on graduation. I knew nothing about the company, but decided to apply and make the leap to move from Michigan, where I was born and raised, to come to Kansas City for this company. I fell in love with the work and the area and have never looked back. But, I do believe my tenacity, focus on hard work and drive has helped me succeed in the opportunity given to me. It was luck that I found it, but me who’s made me successful in it (and everything I’ve done in life).
Contact Info:
- Website: http://100womenkc.org/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100WomenKC
