Lakeland has recently filled the vacant position for Director of Mission and Equity. The new director, Florence Siebert, is a former Lakeland student and employee. She grew up in Elkhart lake, attended Elkhart lake high school, and got her undergraduate degree in fine arts at UW Oshkosh. After graduating she got married and elected to stay home to raise her children for the better part of 10 years. Armed with different expereinces from her life, Siebert has a strong hold on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion at Lakeland.
She has had a very interesting professional life since having graduated. She bartended at the Brown Bear bar in Elkhart Lake for many years, started a nonprofit after school art program in Chilton, served on the board of directors at the art center in Sheboygan, and worked as a youth programming librarian in Chilton as well.
Despite all of her varied professional experience, her most prominent experiences were some of her volunteer positions and working at the library. In her own words, “Not all of my paying jobs shifted my professional trajectory.” Working for the nonprofit helped her make a multitude of valuable connections and learn how the nonprofit world works. The library was her favorite for a number of reasons. The reason she enjoyed it so much is because she believes, “libraries are a social safety net for communities. They promote equality, equal access to education, and technology, which is core part of her vision at Lakeland. In her opinion, “it is really the best of society.” She went on to describe how libraries also serve as a safe space for people of many different backgrounds and personal situations.
Siebert came to lakeland for work as the technical support specialist for Kellet. She also received her master’s degree in leadership during her five year tenure at lakeland. Soon after, she felt the need to pursue something new. She held a number of contract positions afterwards which included grant writing for Sheboygan county, corporate giving and stewardship for Kohler, and had a brief stint as the director of development for Wisconsin’s Green Fire.
Siebert has worn many hats through out the years, but Siebert illustrated that choosing a career paths is based on personal passions and aptitudes. She has had a career path that has taken her down many different roads but she wouldn’t be here today if she had not branched out and taken those opportunities. She added that students should, “lean on the skills that you have and take a chance and go for jobs you may not think you are ideally suited for because you might surprise yourself.”
Now that she is back, Siebert is excited about her role and being a conduit to the leadership of the University for students. This position and her others, although very different, all had one thing in commom: each one had something to do with helping the community in one way or another. Her family was accustomed to doing a lot of volunteering and community outreach. Naturally she seeks out opportunities that mirror that same spirit of giving back. One notable experience for her was when she used to help her mom deliver meals on wheels at the age of five.
Lakeland’s new director of mission and equity is here to stay and it will be interesting to see what she can accomplish.