EMP-15

First I would like to thank Toni Gaines for the great job she did as EMP-15¹s class rep for many years. Your dedication was greatly appreciated. I really have a hard time believing that it has been 13 years since we graduated. A friend of mine is the head of the information technology curriculum for the executive program at NU. I had lunch with him today at the Allen Center. As I was waiting for him I saw a sign posted for a tutorial for EMP-50! Talk about being out of touch. The campus is still absolutely beautiful and the food is still appealing and fattening. During my visit I ran into Ed Wilson. He looks great and is still actively involved at Kellogg. Some things never change.

Unfortunately I have lost touch with everyone except ­ you guessed it ­ Trisha Svehla. Our friendship has continued to grow over the years. We have had many good times and have been there for each other during some of life¹s challenges. In this issue, I¹ll bring you up to date on our activities for the last 10 years. Hopefully before the next issue, I will receive information from many of you regarding what is happening in your life.

Since graduating from EMP-15, Trisha left the enclaves of corporate America to spread her wings into the area of consulting. She started Svehla Consultants, Inc. in the fall of 1991 and will soon be entering her 10-year anniversary as an entrepreneur. Svehla Consultants Inc. specializes in human resource consulting including workforce diversity, teambuilding, gender communications, etc. Trisha is bringing on Willa Wells as a partner in December of this year. In addition to starting her own business, Trisha also wrote and published a book entitled Managing the Mosaic, which addresses the issues of diversity and their impact upon organizational effectiveness. Trisha is also active in numerous volunteer activities, serving as the chair of the Human Services Commission for the Village of Downers Grove; board member for Family Shelter Services, a group providing support to domestic violence in DuPage County and serves as an adjunct professor teaching Workforce Diversity Management at Benedictine University. She still lives in Downers Grove with her husband, Ken, and their dog, Hercules. She continues to be in search of the perfect piece of jewelry.

Shortly after graduation, I left Heller Financial to take a position as senior vice president of Federal Home Loan Bank. It was a great introduction to the banking industry. After several years, I moved to Cooper & Lybrand in Chicago. I had the opportunity to help several large companies design and implement new technology systems. During this period, I spent more hours away from home than I was at home. I knew I had been on the road too much when I picked up the phone at home and tried to contact room service. In the spring of 1992, I accepted a position as regional vice president with Systems Computer Technology, a mid tier software and services company located in Malvern, Pa., (suburb of Philly). SCT provides software and services to the higher education, local government, utilities and manufacturing markets. After 18 months, I was promoted to vice president of U.S. operations and relocated to Wayne, Pa. I had responsibility for 50 customers who were outsourcing their information technology function to us. Again, much travel. I covered the U.S. and many times woke up in a hotel room and was not sure where I was or what time zone I was in. But I really enjoyed the job.

Early in 1995, I was promoted to president of the outsourcing division. I remained in this position until January of this year when I took a package and left the company. I really had a great time in this job and was grateful almost every day that I had the EMP experience. It provided a wonderful framework to help me operate in the role as a senior manager.

Shortly after I left the company, I decided to move back to Chicago. Living in the suburbs of Philadelphia hardly compares to living in Chicago. I arrived in Chicago in July and am living very close to the lake and Navy Pier. I am just lovin¹ it. Currently I am doing some consulting while I am exploring what I want to do when I grow up (no short jokes!). I have been playing a lot of tennis and golf. I have also started to do some volunteer work tutoring inter-city kids. Talk about challenging.

I would really love to hear from each of you. My two years at Kellogg is one of my favorite memories and you were each a part of it. I received a list of names and addresses for our class. It appears to be very outdated. I¹ll take responsibility of updating this list if you send me the info. Please send me your updates at cathy1103@earthlink.net. Remember if I don¹t receive any updates, you will be forced to continue to hear about Trisha and me. Believe me that would be pretty boring.