Page 37 - BusinessWest October 28, 2024

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Kimberley Lee
Chief of Creative Strategy and Development, MiraVista Behavioral Health Center
Wome Women of IMPA
Her Career Is
a ‘Narrative of Commitment, Innovation, and Compassion’
By George O’Brien
[email protected]
he called it the “Mom Squad.”
This was a group of mothers recruited by Kim
Lee or community service at nonprofits and even a few Springfield city departments. Beyond the good work they were doing, these women were using
that community service as a way to earn a voucher for childcare that would enable them to address that challenge and eventually go back to school or join the workforce.
Lee — then working as vice president of Advancement for the child- and family-services provider Square One, previously known as Springfield Day Nursery — read the fine print on the literature pertaining to childcare vouchers, noticed the section on community service, and then did what she’s done throughout her career: she went to work helping those were less fortunate and needed a leg up.
Whatever that might be.
“I’ve always strived to reach individuals who need support and access to services, and harness the energy and resources of an ” organization to make an impact.
“There are so many women who might not be working, might not be employed, or in school, but they want
to be, but there is the major barrier, oftentimes, of childcare for their kids,” she said. “The idea was to use what was available to us in order to help these women get the childcare they needed. Meanwhile, through their volunteerism, they were able to gain skills they could put on a résumé.”
There are plenty of other examples of how, throughout Lee’s career, she has gone well above and beyond her official job description to help others while also advancing the mission of the nonprofit in question.
At the Basketball Hall of Fame, where she worked early in her career, she played a pivotal role in curating the “Freedom to Play” exhibit, a landmark project that not only celebrated the pivotal contributions of African-Americans to the sport of basketball, but also served as a platform for discussing the broader themes of racial equity and inclusion within sports and society at large.
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Meanwhile, at the Mental Health Assoc. (MHA), she helped secure the donation of a patio set for a residential
Tf
“It was not about the table and four chairs and the
rogram for teens, an initiative that was about much more than outdoor furniture.
umbrella,” she said. “It was really about giving young
people that place, that space, that medium to just enjoy
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Photo by Focus Ashely Photos
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